Are value–behavior relations stronger than previously thought? It depends on value importance

Abstract

Research has found that value–behavior relations are usually weak to moderate. But is this really the case? This paper proposes that the relations of personal values to behavior are stronger at higher levels of value importance and weaker at lower levels. In a large, heterogeneous sample, we tested this proposition by estimating quantile correlations between values and self-reported everyday behavior, at different locations along the distribution of value importance. We found the proposed pattern both for self-reports of everyday behaviors chosen intentionally to be value-expressive and everyday behaviors subject to strong situational constraints (e.g., spending allocation to clothing and footwear). Our findings suggest that value–behavior relations may be stronger than previously recognized, depending on value importance. People who attribute high importance to a value will not only engage in value-expressive behaviors more frequently, but as we move up the value importance distribution, the relations strengthen. In contrast, people who attribute low importance to a value not only engage in value-expressive behaviors less frequently, but as we move down the value importance distribution, the relations weaken. These findings provide important insight into the nature of values.

Effects of Nature Values and Regulatory Fit of Message Framing on Message Evaluation and Actual Pro-Environmental Donations

“…Specifically, given the option to donate part of their remuneration to pro-environmental or other charities, only the endorsement of nature values strongly predicted actual donations to the former compared to the latter, or no donations made at all. This is in line with findings that universalism values, and specifically the nature facet, are among the values most strongly associated with behaviors (see Bardi & Schwartz, 2003;Lee et al, 2022;Schwartz & Butenko, 2014). For example, the broader universalism value has been found to have the strongest correlations with references (i.e., word counts) made to its content in essays and Facebook posts of individuals (Ponizovskiy et al, 2020).…”

“…For instance, when asked how important nature values are in their life, people provide this answer relative to all other values they could (or do) endorse. People tend to behave according to the values they hold most important (e.g., Lee et al, 2022). However the overall relations between values and behaviors tend to be weak to moderate when examining all levels of value importance (e.g., Bardi & Schwartz, 2003).…”

“…Using differently framed texts about climate change that highlighted either promotion concerns (e.g., "do your share for cleaner air") or prevention concerns (e.g., "do your share to prevent dirty air"), we examined the influence of regulatory fit on text evaluations and actual monetary donations to pro-environmental charities. Furthermore, personal values have also been found to be important motivators of behavior (e.g., Lee et al, 2022;Maio, 2010), including pro-environmental behavior (e.g., Evans et al, 2013;Steg et al, 2014). Thus, a more complete picture of regulatory fit effects in the context of donations would be gained by testing if and how regulatory fit interacts with people's endorsement of nature values (Schwartz et al, 2012) in predicting text reception and pro-environmental behavior.…”

Welcome to the Real World: Escaping the Sociology of Culture and Cognition

“…But this is not an accurate summary of the literature. I have covered this topic in great detail elsewhere (Vaisey 2014; see also Lee et al 2021). Here, I will simply state that values (along with attitudes, intentions, and so on) generally predict behavior more accurately than most of the things sociologists study (e.g., parental SES).…”

Why Are General Moral Values Poor Predictors of Concrete Moral Behavior in Everyday Life? A Conceptual Analysis and Empirical Study

“…Here, values are usually regarded as important notions to predict and explain how people think, decide, and act within value-relevant situations ( Rohan, 2000 ; Maio et al, 2006 ; Miles, 2015 ; Schwartz et al, 2017 ; Sagiv and Roccas, 2021 ). However, at the same time, it is acknowledged that empirical studies generally find only weak to moderate effects of values on behavior ( Cieciuch, 2017 ; Lee et al, 2021 ). Studies which consider the morally relevant basic values of “benevolence” and “universalism” 2 in connection to moral or pro-social behavior, find similarly sized effects (e.g., Bardi and Schwartz, 2003 ; Caprara et al, 2012 ; Miles, 2015 ).…”