The book has also been subject to serious academic review. For example, a 1975 review in Social Forces notes the book’s ambition in challenging established theories on attitudes and attitude change. Similarly, a critical review in the American Political Science Review engages with the book's core arguments, underscoring its significance within the political science discipline.
Milton Rokeach's The Nature of Human Values (1973) shifted the study of human belief systems from abstract philosophy to quantifiable social science. By structuring values into a measurable hierarchy of means (instrumental) and ends (terminal), Rokeach provided a tool that remains highly relevant for diagnosing cultural shifts, predicting consumer habits, and understanding human conflict.
Crucially, Rokeach demonstrated that behavior follows the hierarchy . When a person’s behavior violates their top-ranked value, they experience a painful state he called —a precursor to modern cognitive dissonance theory.
Rokeach proposed five basic assumptions about the nature of human values: rokeach m 1973 the nature of human values pdf top
Here is how the survey generally works:
These are the behavioral codes you use to reach your terminal values. They answer the question: How should I behave?
Try the Rokeach Value Survey yourself. Rank the 18 terminal values from most to least important. Then do the same for instrumental values. The self-insight might surprise you. The book has also been subject to serious academic review
Rokeach divides values into two distinct categories:
Check APA PsycNet for the abstract and detailed breakdown of the 1973 findings.
These represent the ultimate goals an individual strives to achieve during their lifetime. They are the "what" of human aspiration. Milton Rokeach's The Nature of Human Values (1973)
redefined the study of human motivation by shifting the focus from specific attitudes to broader, more enduring value systems. He proposed that while humans hold thousands of attitudes, they only possess a relatively small number of values—approximately 36—that serve as the fundamental guiding principles for all behavior. Studia PsyPaed Core Framework: The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) Rokeach’s primary contribution is the distinction between
Nearly half a century later, Rokeach’s Value Survey remains a foundational tool for understanding why we make the choices we make, from the ballot box to the grocery aisle.
