High-income individuals ranked "Self-Respect" higher, while lower-income individuals prioritized "Clean" and "Financial Security."
The Nature of Human Values changed how psychology treats human belief systems. It moved the discipline away from studying fleeting "attitudes" toward evaluating the bedrock values that anchor personality and culture. Decades later, researchers tracking cultural shifts, corporate ethics, and political polarization still point back to Rokeach’s 1973 breakthrough as the gold standard for value measurement. If you want to explore further,
Milton Rokeach (1918–1988) was a Polish-American social psychologist who taught at Michigan State University, the University of Western Ontario, and Washington State University. He is best known for his work on dogmatism (The Open and Closed Mind, 1960) and, of course, human values.
| | Access Information | | :--- | :--- | | Princeton University Library | It is listed in the catalog, requiring institutional login for full online access. | | HathiTrust | The catalog record confirms the book is in the HathiTrust digital library, another common access point for students and faculty. | | WorldCat | It can be located in libraries worldwide and may be available as an institutional e-book. | | JSTOR & Google Scholar | The book's individual chapters, reviews, and citing articles can often be found here (though the full PDF itself may not be directly hosted). | rokeach m 1973 the nature of human values pdf
Advertisers use terminal and instrumental values to align product branding with the core motivations of their target audience.
These are preferred modes of conduct or behaviors. They are the “how” – the moral or competent ways we achieve our terminal values.
Despite its influence, the book has faced valid criticism. If you want to explore further, Milton Rokeach
Rokeach proposed a functional link:
The Nature of Human Values (1973) is under copyright held by The Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster). Copyright duration varies by country, but generally in the US, works published after 1964 remain protected for 95 years. As of 2025, this book is not in the public domain.
“A value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.” | | HathiTrust | The catalog record confirms
Instrumental values are the behavioral traits utilized to reach terminal goals Instrumental Value | Definition, Examples & Importance - Lesson . These encompass moral traits (such as being helpful or honest) and competence/capability traits (such as being logical or imaginative) Encyclopedia of Career Development - Rokeach Values Survey. The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) Structure
Rokeach suggests that humans do not just "have" values; we organize them into a hierarchy of importance. When values conflict (e.g., "Freedom" vs. "Security"), our behavior is determined by which value sits higher in our personal ranking. Value Change through Cognitive Dissonance