How Do Our Values Guide Us in Life?

Abstract

Think about what is important to you in your life-think about your values! This article explains how the values of people around the world are similar and diierent. We present the circle of values, which shows how people around the world understand ten basic values: universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction. For a long time, scientists thought that values were an adult thing, and that children could not understand values very well. But children have values, too! The circle of values explains how our values guide us in life: We often take action for things we find important. For example, we embark on adventures if we value stimulation, but we stay safe if we value security. Finally, we will describe an experiment in which children shared chocolate coins or kept them for themselves, and we provide a link to a web page where you can test your own values.