Your Personal Values Profile


 

This chart reports your score on each of the three value dimensions and compares your score to those received by the thousands of other individuals who have completed this survey. The bar behind your score indicates the range of scores received by others. The bottom of the bar is at the 25th percentile, the top of the bar represents the 75th percentile. A percentile score indicates the proportion of individuals who scored below a given point (i.e., 25 percent of individuals score at or below the 25th percentile).

You scored in the 23rd percentile for Achievement, the 0 percentile for Affiliation, and the 3rd percentile for Power.


Understanding Your Personal Values Profile

Why do people do the things they do? Why do some seek fame, while some search for love, and others pursue money. David C. McClelland, Ph.D., renowned behavioral psychologist, former Harvard University professor, and pioneer in the area of human motivation theory, identified three social values: Achievement, Affiliation and Power. According to McClelland, these conscious drives, predict types of behavior people gravitate toward.

What are values? Values are those factors—behaviors, beliefs, qualities, goals—that you believe are important. While you may not always think about them, if asked to, you could probably identify them pretty easily. They’ve been shaped by your parents, teachers, mentors and experiences to date. They are important because they affect the choices you make, and your satisfaction (or lack thereof) with the outcomes. matters.

The three social values, identified by McClelland are:

Achievement:

Desire to meet or exceed a standard of excellence and or to improve performance. Focus can be on outperforming someone else, meeting or surpassing a self-imposed standard of excellence, or accomplishing something new, unique or innovative.

  • Outperforming others
"He always wanted to be first in his class."
  • Internal Standards of excellence
"She was never satisfied with the quality of her work, and kept trying to do better."
  • Unique or innovative accomplishment.
"She was always trying to figure out a new way of doing things."
  • Long-range planning/career involvement.
"He had wanted to be a pilot ever since the age of five."
Affiliation:

Desire to establish and maintain close, friendly relationships. Focus is on building up, and minimizing disruptions in, relationships.

  • Establishing close, friendly relationships
"She hopes to make friends with them."
  • Concern about separation or disruption of relationships.
"He was very sad when he was afraid that the person felt alienated from the group."
  • Seeing group activities as social.
"The got together to have a party because they were old friends."
Power:

Desire is to have an impact. Focus is on reputation or position. Value for Power can be personalized; used for self-benefit, or socialized; used for the greater good.

Feeling or being perceived as strong, effective, influential

  • Taking forceful actions that affect people.
  • Giving unsolicited support or advice.
  • Controlling or regulating people's lives.
  • Influencing, persuading, or making a point (when reaching agreement is not the object).
  • Impressing individuals or the world at large.
  • Acting in ways that generate strong positive or negative emotions in others.
  • Having concern for reputation or position.