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**Values**

Values are “a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgement of what is importa nt in life.” They can be considered “something [that] is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.”

Personal Values are determined by our surroundings and upbringings. They can be based off of your parent or guardians values, or they can be implemented by culture.

Values first begin during what is known as the “**Imprint Period**.” The imprint period happens up until around the time that we reach seven years old. During this time, we observe and absorb the attitudes and beliefs of the people around us, which mainly consists of parents. From these surrounding influences, we learn what is “good and bad” or what the difference is between “right and wrong.” Secondly, we go through a phase called the “**Modeling Period**.” The modeling period takes place between the age of eight and thirteen. During this time, we copy the behaviors of the people who surround us. We try to be like them and see how they act and how it feels to act like them. The third stage that we go through is the “**Socialization Period**.” In the socialization period (age thirteen through twenty-one,) we experiment the values we know with our peers and “get away from [our] earlier programing” by turning to people who are similar to the way that we are. During the socialization period, we are also influenced by the media around us.

In order to reach an understanding of us having our own high moral values, we also go through three stages in order to have these values become “principled.” The first stage in a value becoming “principled” is the “**pre-moral**” stage. The pre-moral stage begins during the imprinting stage because we are having morals pressed upon us even though we don't necessarily have a sense of what it means to have a real value. By nature, we do whatever it takes to achieve what we want during the pre-moral stage. In the second stage, the “**conventional stage,**” we learn values through rules set by our parents in order to get along with our peers. We follow these rules because we think that we have to.In this stage, we will break the rules if we know we can get away with it. The final stage in achieving high moral values is when we become “ ** principled ** .” In the principled stage, we ourselves believe in our values and follow them because we want to, not because we think that we have to. A person with principled values does not change their values for anyone around them and will “sacrifice themselves rather than break their principle” values.

Overall, values are different for everyone, though some values are portrayed as commonly important. Some common values include: - **Honesty,** - **Happiness** - **Determination** - **Responsibility** - **Fun, Growth** - **Hard Work** - **Self Control** - **Merit** Values are important because they demonstrate what is important to us and what influences our attitudes and actions. Influences on values can include anything from past experiences, culture, or socioeconomic situations of which we are in. Values are not always defined in a black and white manner. For example: If you were taught that stealing is wrong from a young age because stealing is taking away an asset that belongs to someone else, how would you feel about the following statement?

- John Doe does not think that stealing is a big deal.

What if the following was the reason why John Doe was stealing?

- John Doe does not think that stealing is a big deal because his parents were too poor to provide food for him as a child. In order to survive, John learned to steal food for his little sister and himself so they would not go to bed hungry.

Even though you may strongly believe one value, honesty, is very important, John Doe learned that stealing could be important because it was a necessity in order to survive when his parents could not take care of him and his little sister. According to [|valuesandframes.org], “Different values, and the psychological relationships between them, have important effects on our behaviors and attitudes. Some of them reveal a deep connection between many of the issues we work on. However, other factors (contextual, environmental, and habitual) play a role too – suggesting that it is still important to address structures and policies.”

To identify ones own personal values, one must think about the times when they were:

-happiest -proudest -accomplished By thinking back to these times, we are able to determine values that we had that got us to all these places in life.

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By: Brianna Kraynak

Sources:

Ormrod, J.E. (2011). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, 7/e. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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“What are your values? Learn How to Identify Values and Beliefs” []

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http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/values_development.htm