Individual’s values are usually grounded in the core values of people’s culture. Everything we

do, every decision we make and course of action we take is based on our consciously or

unconsciously held beliefs, attitudes, and values.

Milton (1985) classifies values into moral values and nonmoral values. Moral values have to do

with right and wrong, good and evil. They form the basis for judgments or moral responsibility

and guide such ethical behaviour as telling the truth, keeping agreements, and not injuring others.

Moral statements often contain words such as must, ought, should, never, and always.

Non-moral values have to do with tastes, preferences, and styles. They relate to what is desirable

and undesirable. Nonmoral values carry no sense of obligation. There is no moral responsibility

connected with accepting a nonmoral value. The activities that come out of non-moral values are

merely preferred, not dictated: going to the ballgame instead of to a movie, reading a book

instead watching television. Non-moral values are more plentiful than moral values, because

they are expressions of your attitudes toward all sorts of objects. Without a doubt, values are

highly operative in our life.

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Throughout your life, you have heard many life messages: “Life is … “, “Success is …

“The most important thing is …” transmitted to you by parents, peers, and society in general. We

are not born with values, but we are born into cultures and societies that promote, teach, and

impart their values to us. We learn to be what we are. We first gain our value orientation from

the “significant others” in our lives—parents and siblings. During the first years of our life, we

lacked the knowledge and maturity to evaluate our value orientation. We had one shoulds and

should nots from our parents, church, friends. The church often suggested the second. Our

friends offered a third view of values. And then chaos of value conflicts: values from opposing

political groups, the values of different cultures, the influence of Hollywood, popular magazines,

television, etc. With all of this additional information we began to question and reevaluate our

original value orientation. Actual experience became very real in the forming of our value

system.

The values we place upon different aspects of our environment have an effect on how we view

things and how we function. In other words, an act viewed as right or wrong, moral or immoral

will depend upon the frame of reference of the perceiver. As a result, something that one person

considers worthwhile and desirable may appear exactly the opposite to another person.

I. Find in the Glossary the definitions of the key terms and give their

Russian equivalents.

II. Find in the text words which can be used as terms in other branches of

science. What do they mean?

III. Answer the following questions:

1. What are values?

2. Do you tend to judge other people’s actions by your own standards –

your values?

3. What are some differences between your value system of today and

that of five or ten years ago?

TEXT 2. THE FORMATION OF THE VALUE SYSTEM

The following important factors are influential in the formation of our value system:

religious beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes. A belief is the acceptance of some

thought, supposition or idea. This belief may be in God, or in Gods, or even in the supernatural.

In some form or another, religion and established moral codes are found in all cultures and

societies. Regardless of the exact nature of people’s beliefs, they view their convictions as an

important foundation for their value system. Attitudes are positive or negative orientations

toward a certain target. For example, you have attitudes toward specific persons (parents,

children, teachers), as well as toward groups of people (Blacks, Whites, male ministers, female

ministers). You also have attitudes toward things or targets such as food, movies, holidays, or

marriage. More than likely, your positive attitudes are a result of positive experiences, and your

negative attitudes are a result of negative experiences. Whatever you learned in these

experiences is likely to take the form of expectations later in life (I’m not going to get married

again; if I did, it would just probably end in another divorce). The attitudes are formed from

prior experiences and expectations.

A prejudice is a preconceived opinion, feeling, or attitude, either positive or negative, that

is formed without adequate information. Prejudices are often unjustified attitudes. Sometimes we

allow our prejudiced attitudes to make generalizations by categorizing an object, person, or

situation. When we do this, we are guilty of stereotyping (giving a label). It is so easy for us to

engage in stereotyping and then permit these attitudes to shape our value system.

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There are always many factors in your life that compete for your time and attention.

Actually, what you value most often determines how you will spend your time. You are always

making value decisions, and an awareness of what values are most important to you can help you

to live a more harmonious and less stressful live. When you know which values have a higher

priority, you can more easily make life’s major and minor decisions. Your values do change as

you go through various life stages. We have already stated that because we are unique

individuals, something that one person considers a value might not be a value to another person.

However, your idea of what makes you feel secure may differ remarkably from that of other

people. Some people may equate security primarily with money; others may equate security with

education, religion, or close family relationships.

I. Find in the Glossary the definitions of the key terms and give

their Russian equivalents.

II. Find in the text words which can be used as terms in other

branches of science. What do they mean?

III. Answer the following questions:

1. Is it really necessary to have values?

2. What prejudices and stereotypes do you have? What are they

based on? How do they affect your present value system?

3. Has there been any change in the kinds of values you consider

to be important in your life?

Read the following text and guess the meaning of the key terms.

TEXT 3. VALUE ORIENTATIONS

Your values may be abstract (intangible) or specific (tangible). For example, one may value

such entities as a car, helping others, knowledge, career, security, close relationships, an

education, money, being an honest person, and so on. Your interests, attitudes, and behaviour

often indicate whether your value system is oriented mainly toward things, ideas, or people. A

person who is willing to work hard and save to obtain material objects or even a large bank

account may be thing-oriented. On the other hand, some people have a zest for working with

ideas, theories, and concepts. They enjoy devising strategies and creating solutions to complex

problems. We might say that these individuals have an idea-oriented value system. However, if

you truly enjoy working and being with other people, your value system may be people-oriented.

It is highly possible that a combination of these three value orientations may be desired.

However, one of these value orientations is probably at the core of your value system, even

though you may not be aware of how your behaviour is reflected in this particular value

orientation. Establishing your value system involves a weighing of “what is” with “what should

be.”

Clarifying our values is a crucial aspect of self-development. Sometimes important choices in

life are made on the basis of peer pressure, unthinking submission to authority, or the power of

propaganda. We may even guide our lives by what others expect of us, instead of what we truly

believe is right. Many times, thoughts and expectations of society and others largely influence

our value system. Thus, our value orientation becomes other-directed rather than self-directed.

The obvious result is a feeling of being very insecure and easily threatened in our valuing

process. When we become conscious of our own personal value system and how it functions, we

can begin to manage our own value system rather than allowing others to manage it. People need

to think about their own values, think hard about them, think for themselves. Personal values

really do matter. Without functioning values, we can hardly live at all, much less lead a

purposeful and satisfying life (Lewis Hunter, 1991). Values clarification is a process that helps

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people arrive at an answer. It is not concerned with an ultimate set of values (that is for you to

decide), but it does stress a method to help you determine the content and power of your own set

of values. It is a self-audit, and an inventory of soul and spirit. It is a tool to help you freely

decide between alternatives or among varied choices. It is a methodology to help you make a

decision, to act, to determine what has meaning for you (Simon, 1975).

The process of clarifying values involves: choosing 1) freely, 2) from alternatives, 3) after

thoughtful consideration of the consequences; prizing 4) cherishing and being happy with the

choice, 5) willing to affirm the choice publicly; acting 6) doing something with the choice, 7)

acting repeatedly, in some pattern of life.

Before something can be a full, true value, it must meet all seven of the above criteria.

Choosing freely means we consciously and deliberately make the choice ourselves. Choosing

from alternatives means there are options. If there are no alternatives, there is no freedom of

choice. Choosing after considering the consequences means you ask yourself, “What would be

the result of the alternatives of my choice?” This gives you the opportunity to choose with

thoughtful consideration, and not on impulse. Many of the problems which we have are the result

of impulsive, poorly thought-out decisions, or action taken without regard for ourselves or

others. Cherishing and feeling happy about the choice means that it influences your behaviour