A List of 20 Values [and Why People Can't Agree On More] (2024)

When I recently came across the headline “The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic,” I couldn’t help but click—a good data visualization is like catnip for me. The chart, compiled by global research company Valuegraphics, shows the results of 500,000 surveys, across 152 languages, about what people think are a common values. A few of the answers on the list: freedom of speech, leisure, financial security.

I was disappointed. Not because any of those things are bad, but because they aren’t actually values. For the survey, the authors defined values as “what we care about,” which is the definition that a lot of people probably have. The thing is, what we care about changes every day—every minute, even—and that’s why it’s hard to agree on a list of values. When your kid is throwing a tantrum, you care about getting some peace and quiet. When you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic with an empty fuel tank, you care about whether there’s a gas station nearby. But these things are not examples of values.

Why? Because values are more forward-thinking than simply reactions to the immediate moment. They are attributes of the person you want to be.

Freedom of speech is certainly valuable, but under an oppressive government, it can be taken away from me. Therefore, freedom of speech is not one of my values; it’s a thing I value. Honesty, in contrast, is something I can own—and it’s a common value shared across cultures. I can choose to embody honesty, or I can choose to lie to people. If I’m honest, then I’m living according to my value of honesty.

Why is this distinction important? Because values are central to human flourishing. We need to define and understand our values if we want to live with personal integrity.

My wife and I believe that our common values are the foundation of a strong marriage. But if we define our values as “things we care about,” we get a noisy and long list full of disagreement. She cares about wearing matching socks; I, on the other hand, will wear two different ones just for fun. Does that make us incompatible? Of course not.

When we define values as attributes of the people we want to be, we can more clearly see our next steps, the actions we can take to move forward. My wife and I both “care about” our daughter–but that’s not actionable. What’s actionable is the desire to be attentive parents. Attentiveness is a value. And if we both want to be attentive parents, we can talk about what that means, and we can strive every day to live up to it. For us, it means being fully present when we’re together, without getting distracted by our phones.

There’s a difference between the things you value and your actual values. Values are attributes of the person you want to be. Click To Tweet

1. Loyalty
2. Spirituality
3. Humility
4. Compassion
5. Honesty
6. Kindness
7. Integrity
8. Selflessness
9. Determination
10. Generosity

11. Courage
12. Tolerance
13. Trustworthiness
14. Equanimity
15. Altruism
16. Appreciation
17. Empathy
18. Toughness
19. Self-Reliance
20. Attentiveness

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