Self-Help
How to Choose Your Values
Three ways to find out what matters to you.
In Psychological Self-Help, Dr. Clay Tucker-Ladd recommends 3 quick tests—designed by social scientists—that can help you find out what your values are.
These are the best such tests developed. Don’t rush through them like a cute personality test on Tickle.com.
Your preferred way to live
Adapted from Paths of Life by Charles Morris.
| Your Rating | Ways to Live |
|---|---|
| agree | mixed | disagree | Keep the best of your culture to make an orderly, active, just world. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Be self-sufficient. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Be loving, respectful, and helpful. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Care for yourself first and just have fun. Let yourself go! |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Work closely with others to have fun and achieve common goals. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Solve our problems. Build a better future. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Accept all worldviews. Embrace fun, action, and thought. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Enjoy simple pleasures like family, friends, and relaxation. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Stop looking, be receptive, and good things will come to you. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Master yourself. Be directed by reason and high ideals. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Live inside yourself with dreams, ideas, and self-knowledge. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Use all the energy you have to build things and climb mountains. |
| agree | mixed | disagree | Quietly let yourself be used by others for good. |
Your life goals
Adapted from The Nature of Human Values by Milton Rokeach.
18 possible goals.
| Ranking | Possible Goals |
|---|---|
| ______ | world peace |
| ______ | freedom |
| ______ | equality, brotherhood |
| ______ | happiness |
| ______ | excitement |
| ______ | wisdom, maturity |
| ______ | comfort, prosperity |
| ______ | self-esteem |
| ______ | salvation, eternal life |
| ______ | mature love, intimacy |
| ______ | respect, admiration |
| ______ | a sense of accomlishment |
| ______ | national security |
| ______ | true friendship |
| ______ | beauty in nature and art |
| ______ | inner peace |
| ______ | pleasure, leisure |
| ______ | family |
Which traits do you want the most?
Adapted from Understanding Human Values by Milton Rokeach.
18 possible values.
| Ranking | Possible Traits |
|---|---|
| ______ | self-controlled, disciplined |
| ______ | honest |
| ______ | loving, tender |
| ______ | ambitious, hard-working |
| ______ | cheerful |
| ______ | responsible, dependable |
| ______ | independent, self-sufficient |
| ______ | open-minded |
| ______ | polite |
| ______ | forgiving |
| ______ | smart, knowledgeable |
| ______ | helpful |
| ______ | obedient, respectful |
| ______ | capable, skilled |
| ______ | logical, consistent, realistic |
| ______ | courageous, strong |
| ______ | creative, daring |
| ______ | clean, tidy |
Okay, Now What?
If you’ve taken these tests, you know something about your values. Now what? What can you do with this knowledge?
First, your values can help you choose the right goals.
Also, you can use your values directly in a self-help project. Dr. Stanton Peele gives an example in 7 Tools to Beat Addiction.
Peele’s uncle, Ozzie, had smoked for 30 years. One day, during his lunch break at work, Ozzie got up to buy another cigarette pack. A coworker said, “Look at Ozzie—if they raised the price of smokes to a dollar, he’d pay them. He’s a sucker for the tobacco companies!”
Ozzie finished that pack and never smoked again.
Why? Ozzie was a union activist. He helped “the little guy” fight big companies. Ozzie realized that smoking was incompatible with his values, so he quit.
Values are powerful. They lie at the core of our identity. You can use them for your own good.