Which values are similar? Introducing new methodologies to map the structure of human values and value-expressive behaviours

This research provides the first direct assessment of human values and value-expressive behaviours based on their conceptual meaning. Chapter 1 provides a brief history of the study of human values and dissects the dominant contemporary theory of values, the Theory of Basic Human Values, proposed by Shalom Schwartz. I also discuss methodological approaches used to assess the structure of human values, and the nature of concepts and categorization. In Chapter 2, seven studies containing data from nine samples in two countries (United Kingdom and Brazil) asked participants to compare the meaning of different values found within Schwartz’s influential quasi-circumplex model of values. Different methods were used across the studies, including direct similarity judgment tasks, pile sorting, and spatial arrangement. The results of these diverse conceptual assessments corresponded to spatial configurations that are broadly convergent with Schwartz’s model, both between and within participants. In Chapter 3, four studies were conducted using British samples, asking participants to make direct comparisons between value-expressive behaviours and different levels of mental representations of values (e.g., value types, higher order values). Some of the methods used in Chapter 2 were also used for these studies. It was an open question whether the structure from Schwartz’s value model would be replicated by the spatial plane composed of value-expressive behaviours. The spatial configurations from these studies broadly converged with Schwartz's structure, and also provided a novel point of view of how values and behaviours are related based on how people interpret them. Finally, in Chapter 4, I discuss the contributions of this research, its implications, limitations, and future directions