Milton Rokeach The Nature Of Human Values 1973 !!top!! May 2026

In 1973, social psychologist Milton Rokeach published a dense, brilliant, and surprisingly accessible book titled . While it’s over 50 years old, its insights feel more urgent than ever in our era of culture wars and personal identity crises.

He gave people a list of 18 Terminal Values and 18 Instrumental Values. Then he asked them to —not rate them on a scale, but literally rank them from 1 to 18. milton rokeach the nature of human values 1973

By [Your Name]

Rokeach didn’t just ask, “What do people value?” He asked a deeper question: How do values actually work as a system? Rokeach’s core argument is simple yet profound: A value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally preferable to its opposite. In 1973, social psychologist Milton Rokeach published a

When Rokeach administered his survey across the U.S., he found a fascinating split. The top Terminal Value was often “Family Security,” while “Freedom” ranked highly but “Equality” ranked surprisingly low (often #7–12). Meanwhile, the top Instrumental Value was almost always “Honest,” followed by “Ambitious.” Then he asked them to —not rate them

Then do the same for the 18 Instrumental Values.