Personal values test (Schwartz)
See what each value priority means, how the model is scored, and how your result is read against the population that actually fits you.
Personal values are the broad, enduring goals that guide what you treat as important across situations. Shalom Schwartz showed that ten basic values recur across cultures and arrange themselves into a circle defined by motivation. This guide groups that circle into four higher-order priorities so you can see the trade-offs your own values make.
The model
What it measures
Select a priority to see the basic values it is built from. Each value is estimated from short portraits of a person that you rate for how much they resemble you, on the 21-item version of the questionnaire.
The four priorities sit on a circle: Openness to Change pulls against Conservation, and Self-Enhancement pulls against Self-Transcendence. Because values compete, your profile is best read as a pattern of trade-offs - which priorities lead for you and which you are willing to give up - rather than four independent scores. There are no better or worse value profiles, only different ones.
Independence, novelty and excitement - following your own path and seeking new experiences.
- OCOpenness to Change
Independence, novelty and excitement - following your own path and seeking new experiences.
Facets: Self-Direction, Stimulation, Hedonism.
- SESelf-Enhancement
Personal success and influence - pursuing achievement, status and control.
Facets: Achievement, Power, Hedonism.
- COConservation
Stability, order and continuity - valuing safety, custom and self-restraint.
Facets: Security, Conformity, Tradition.
- STSelf-Transcendence
Care beyond the self - protecting the welfare of close others and of all people and nature.
Facets: Benevolence, Universalism.
The evidence
Science and validity
The Schwartz value theory is one of the most extensively validated frameworks in cross-cultural psychology. The ten-value structure and its circular motivational order have been recovered in samples from dozens of countries, which is what lets the same value map be applied across very different populations. The four higher-order priorities used here are the standard summary of that circle.
You rate short portraits of a person for how much each is like you. Items are averaged within each basic value, and the basic values are grouped into the four priorities. Because most people endorse benevolence and self-direction highly and power less so, a common practice is to read each priority relative to your own average across all values. There are no pass/fail cut-offs; the result is read as relative priority, not as a verdict on your character.
Where you stand
How a score becomes a percentile
A raw score only means something against a comparison group. For example, a Self-Transcendence score of 4.9 on the response scale sits near the 80th percentile against published adult data - a stronger care-beyond-the-self priority than roughly four in five adults. Drag the slider to see how a score on each priority maps to a percentile; your real result is matched to the population that fits you when you take the test.
Your result, visualised across every dimension
Take the test once and see a full profile like this example, each dimension placed against the population most relevant to you, with plain-language interpretation.
See my full profile →Example profile shown for illustration.
The reference data
Benchmarked against the population that fits you
We benchmark your result against the population that actually resembles you, across 12 reference groups.
Each reference group is used as its own benchmark, not to rank one country against another.
How it works
What the questions feel like
Illustrative statements showing the style of the items. These are examples, not the official scored items.
Coming up with original solutions matters more to this person than following proven recipes.
Illustrative Self-Direction-style portrait - you rate how much the person resembles you, not an official scored item.
This person goes out of their way to look after the people close to them.
Illustrative Benevolence-style portrait, not an official scored item.
Being seen as capable and accomplished drives many of the choices this person makes.
Illustrative Achievement-style portrait, not an official scored item.
This person feels most at ease when life is orderly and things go as expected.
Illustrative Security-style portrait, not an official scored item.
Honest strengths and limitations
Strengths
- A cross-culturally validated map of human values, recovered in dozens of countries.
- Short (about 6 minutes) and read as relative priority, so no profile is judged better or worse.
- Pairs naturally with a personality measure to give a fuller picture of a person.
Limitations
- Values describe broad guiding priorities, not specific actions, so they shape behaviour probabilistically rather than dictating it.
- The 21-item version estimates the broad shape of your priorities; longer instruments resolve finer distinctions among closely related values.
- Cross-country mean comparisons are confounded by response styles and measurement differences, so percentiles are a guide, not a verdict.
See your full profile
A complete report, matched to the population that fits you, with plain-language interpretation of every trait.
Frequently asked questions
What does the personal values test measure?
It measures your priorities across ten basic human values, grouped into four higher-order priorities on a motivational circle: Openness to Change, Self-Enhancement, Conservation and Self-Transcendence. The result is read as relative priority - which values lead and which you trade off - rather than four independent scores.
Is there a right or wrong set of values?
No. Every value in the model reflects a legitimate human motivation, and no profile is healthier or more mature than another. The test describes what you prioritize, not whether your priorities are correct. Its purpose is self-understanding, not evaluation.
How is a values test different from a personality test?
A personality test like HEXACO describes how you typically behave; a values test describes what you consider important and strive toward. The two relate but are not the same - you can value something you do not always act on. Used together, traits and values give a fuller picture of a person.
How long does it take?
About six minutes - 21 short person-portraits that you rate for how much they resemble you.
Related tests
- Kankaraš, M. (2017). Personality matters: Relevance and assessment of personality characteristics. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 157, OECD Publishing, Paris.
- Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65.
- Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).
- Sagiv, L., & Schwartz, S. H. (2022). Personal values across cultures. Annual Review of Psychology, 73, 517-546.
The Schwartz theory of basic values and the portrait values questionnaire are the work of Shalom H. Schwartz; this independent informational page describes the model and is free for research and non-commercial use with attribution.