Human beings do not act in a totally unpredictable way; behind our actions there are a number of goals, objectives, most of which are shared and can be expressed in words.

But what moves us to act does not have to be simply a concrete need related to our physiological state, like hunger or cold. As rational animals, we are able to create new forms of motivation through abstract thinking. This is exactly what we will talk about in this article: about the types of values , the ideals that we defend on a daily basis.

What are values?

Values are concepts that guide the way we behave . Each person has a scale of values that expresses how certain aspects of life are prioritized over others, and which ones are defended with greater vehemence.

Thus, a person who holds the value of peace in high esteem will have a very different way of seeing things than someone who values survival above peace, or someone who advocates respect for traditions in the first place, for example.

Types of values

Below you can find a classification with the main types of values . Note that some of these categories partially overlap each other, and that the same value can belong to more than one of them.

1. Personal values

These types of values are defined by being applied in everyday life through the simplest actions and, especially, through habits. Consequently, personal values are characterised by being applied to practically all areas and contexts of life , not limited to a single place or type of activity.

For example, respect for a son or daughter is usually a personal value, since it is valid in all contexts, but innovation is not usually, since under certain conditions it can be relegated without special internal conflicts.

2. Labour values

Work values are related to our way of acting in a professional context l, that is in the field of work. For example, it is understood that if the work values of a person do not fit with the values of the company, an implicit conflict is created that generates discomfort in the worker and problems in the functioning of the company.

Some examples of work values are perseverance, innovation, effort, adaptation to change etc.

3. Corporate values

What characterises company values is that they aim to be both a production style and a marketing component of an organisation. They are not attached to a natural person, but to a legal person, and therefore do not arise naturally from a real person, but are a social construction that influences how one works in the company (not only in the office, but also in Public Relations activities).

4. Religious values

Religious values are linked to a belief system based on the faith of a particular religion. By definition, religions include a system of symbols, religious dogma and certain rituals shared by several people, so religious values are also related to this social factor by which some believers influence the decisions and assessments of others, often punishing those who think differently in a conflictive aspect.

5. Family values

This type of value is related to the experience of belonging to a family. With the establishment of the strong emotional ties that characterize the family, come also values used to put order in the way we do not relate to the rest of the members of the family.

For example, respect for the elderly may be very present in one family, while in another family the value of “protection of the weak” may be higher, which makes it more paternalistic to treat the grandfather or grandmother.

6. Social values

Social values are not limited to a specific social circle as is the case with relatives, but can be extended to the entire population. Respect for the rest of others, which means trying to make little noise at night , is a social value, and the same goes for respect for the right to privacy.

7. Political values

Political values have to do with the ideal political model for a person, which has to do with the public management of resources . Individual freedom, for example, tends to be one of the values most defended by the liberal political tendency, while universal access to basic goods tends to be more demanded by the left.

8. Aesthetic values

This set of values has to do with forms of sensory perception and the way in which these induce certain aesthetic appreciations. This is why they are especially important in art, but they are not limited to this area, since they are also relevant in crafts and design in general, whether artistic or not.

Simplicity, harmony or a taste for the strange are aesthetic values.

9. Ethical values

Those values related to morality are the aesthetic ones, principles that serve to distinguish in a relatively clear way between good and evil and that are, in a certain sense, aprioristic: they do not have so much to do with a certain context or with the usefulness of one strategy over another, but they have value by themselves.

Respect and peace are ethical values.

10. Material values

Material values designate which material aspects of life have value over others. For example, there are people who live with very little on a voluntary basis, while others, despite being middle class, feel great frustration at not being able to afford a lot of great luxuries.