Milton Rokeach (1918–1988) was a Polish-American social psychologist who taught at Michigan State University, the University of Western Ontario, and Washington State University. He is best known for his work on dogmatism (The Open and Closed Mind, 1960) and, of course, human values.
Rokeach was dissatisfied with how psychologists treated values. He observed that while everyone used the term “value,” no one had a unified theory. Some saw values as purely economic; others saw them as moral imperatives. Rokeach’s 1973 book was his magnum opus—a comprehensive attempt to define, categorize, and measure values in a way that was scientifically rigorous yet accessible.
He passed away in 1988, but his intellectual legacy lives on through the Rokeach Value Survey, which remains one of the most widely used psychometric tools in the world.
In the landscape of social psychology, few works have shaped how we understand human motivation quite like Milton Rokeach’s The Nature of Human Values. Published in 1973, this text moved beyond the simple question of "what do people like?" to the deeper inquiry of "what do people stand for?"
If you work in organizational behavior, marketing, political science, or psychology, this book is likely the bedrock upon which modern value surveys stand.
Rokeach argues that values are a core, organizing force in human personality, social attitudes, and behavior. Unlike transient attitudes or situational norms, values are enduring beliefs that guide actions, judgments, and self-concept across contexts. His goal: provide a systematic, empirically testable theory and measurement tool for understanding human values.
Why should you care today? The Rokeach model is not a museum piece. It is actively used in:
Rokeach (1973) is a masterclass in operationalizing a fuzzy concept. If you want a single, data-rich source that explains why a freedom-fighter, a corporate executive, and a monk make different life choices, this is it.
The PDF is not a light beach read—it is dense, quantitative, and methodologically specific. But for anyone serious about human motivation, conflict resolution, or consumer psychology, it is a foundational pillar.
Where to find it: Check your university library’s digital repository, Google Scholar, or academic databases like PsycNET. The full citation is:
Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press.
Have you taken the Rokeach Value Survey? How do you think your top terminal value (e.g., Freedom vs. Equality) shapes your daily decisions? Share your thoughts below. rokeach m 1973 the nature of human values pdf
Here’s a short, helpful story inspired by Rokeach’s 1973 work The Nature of Human Values — it weaves the book’s core ideas (terminal vs. instrumental values, value systems, and value change) into a simple narrative you can use for teaching, reflection, or as a vignette.
The Clockmaker’s Values
Old Ana owned a tiny clock shop at the corner of Linden and Third. Each morning she wound the shop’s brass clocks and read the hand-written notes customers left on the counter. The notes weren’t repair tickets—they were little confessions about what people wanted from life: “happiness with family,” “professional success,” “trustworthy friends,” “personal freedom.”
One rainy afternoon, a young apprentice named Marco arrived, eager but impatient. He loved speed, prizes, and visible success. He asked Ana bluntly, “How do you know what’s worth chasing? I’m good with gears, but I want to build a career fast.”
Ana set a pocket watch on the counter and drew two concentric circles around it in chalk. “Look,” she said. “The innermost circle holds the ends—what people ultimately want. The outer circle holds the means—how they get there.” She tapped the glass: “Terminal values are like the center: peace of mind, family security, a sense of accomplishment. Instrumental values are the hands that move the gears: honesty, ambition, tolerance.”
Marco frowned. “So you mean I should pick my center first?”
“Not always. Sometimes the hands shape the center.” Ana wound the watch and let it tick. “People form clusters of values that guide choices. My customer, Mr. Diaz, came for a repair because he wanted ‘respect in business’—a terminal value that made him emphasize punctuality and fairness. But another, Lena, wanted ‘personal freedom’ and so valued creativity and independence as instrumental ways to get there.”
That evening, Marco stayed late to fix a grandmother clock. He met a woman who’d come to pick up a repaired heirloom. While she waited, she told Marco about leaving a high-paying job to teach. “I wanted my life to mean something,” she said. “I had money, but not fulfillment.” Her story nudged something in Marco. He thought of his own impatience and the trophies on shelves that felt hollow.
Over weeks, Ana taught Marco a simple practice: when faced with a decision, ask two questions—“What final state do I want?” and “Which behaviors will get me there?” Marco tried it. When a lucrative offer came with long hours, he mapped his values. He realized his terminal goals were “close family ties” and “being respected for craft,” so he declined the job and took a steadier role where he could apprentice under a master clockmaker and still visit his sister each Sunday.
One winter, a town council proposed removing the old clock tower to clear space for a mall. The town divided: some wanted progress and jobs; others wanted heritage and community rhythm. Ana organized a meeting where neighbors listed what they valued. The lists revealed the town’s hidden value structure: some prioritized “economic prosperity,” others “community identity,” and many used shared instrumental values—“cooperation” and “respect”—to find compromise. In the end they redesigned the plan to keep the tower and add a small market. People felt heard because their deepest ends and feasible means were acknowledged.
Years later, Marco took over the shop. He kept Ana’s chalk circles and taught his own apprentices that values aren’t fixed trophies; they form systems that guide decisions and can change when life nudges them. He learned that values sometimes shift slowly—when a child is born, “family security” rises to the center; sometimes they change quickly after loss or triumph. Most important, he learned the Rokeach lesson Ana loved to repeat: knowing the difference between what you ultimately want and how you get it makes choices clearer and life more intentional. In the landscape of social psychology, few works
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In his 1973 book, The Nature of Human Values , social psychologist Milton Rokeach
defined a value as an "enduring belief" that a specific mode of conduct or state of existence is personally or socially preferable to its opposite . His work introduced the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)
, a widely used tool that helps individuals and researchers understand human motivation by ranking 36 core values. ResearchGate Core Framework: Terminal vs. Instrumental Values
Rokeach divided the human value system into two interconnected categories: Wiley Online Library
In this book, Rokeach argues that values are the most central constructs in a person's cognitive system, acting as the standards that guide our actions, attitudes, and judgments. Core Features of Rokeach's Value Theory The Definition of a Value
Rokeach defines a value as an "enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence." Two Categories of Values (The Rokeach Value Survey)
The most famous feature of the book is the division of values into two distinct sets: Terminal Values:
These refer to "end-states of existence." They are the ultimate goals a person wants to achieve during their lifetime (e.g.,
A World at Peace, Freedom, Equality, Self-Respect, Happiness Instrumental Values:
These refer to "modes of conduct." They are the methods or behaviors used to reach the terminal values (e.g., Honest, Ambitious, Courageous, Independent, Responsible The Value Hierarchy Rokeach (1973) is a masterclass in operationalizing a
Rokeach suggests that humans do not just "have" values; we organize them into a hierarchy of importance. When values conflict (e.g., "Freedom" vs. "Security"), our behavior is determined by which value sits higher in our personal ranking. Value Change through Cognitive Dissonance
The book explores how people change. Rokeach found that if you make a person aware of inconsistencies between their values and their behavior (or between two of their own values), the resulting "self-dissatisfaction" often leads to a long-term shift in their value system. Social and Political Implications
Rokeach famously used his survey to map political ideologies. For example, he argued that ranks both high, while ranks both low, and Capitalism
This report summarizes Milton Rokeach's seminal 1973 work, The Nature of Human Values
, which fundamentally changed how social psychologists understand belief systems. You can find digital copies and previews of this work on platforms like the Internet Archive or Google Books. Core Framework: The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)
Rokeach posited that values are fewer in number than attitudes and serve as the internal reference points for all human behavior. He classified 36 total values into two distinct categories:
The RVS is the book’s central empirical tool. It consists of two alphabetically ordered lists (18 terminal, 18 instrumental values), each accompanied by a short descriptive phrase.
Format:
Example terminal values (abbreviated):
Example instrumental values:
Rokeach argued that values are more central to a person’s identity than attitudes. While attitudes can change with a persuasive message, values are relatively stable. However, they are not immutable. Major life events (college, war, parenthood) can trigger a reordering of the value hierarchy.