Types of personal values in the continuum of unrealisability–realisability of their meaning

Abstract

© 2015 Ashgate Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. The transformation of the meaning of values depending on the subjective evaluation of their attainability is a relevant problem due to the important role of feedback in the individual regulation of one’s life. The goal of this article is to describe the laws of human comprehension in regard to the level of realisation of desirable values, which was indicated through the comparison of the importance of values and the subjective assessment of their attainability. The leading method of research in this sphere is the analysis of correlative structures of specific parameters, such as importance, attainability, and the discrepancy between them. The material is comprised of data from 80 male and 90 female subjects aged 22 to 40. Polar tendencies of alignment and misalignment of the studied parameters were identified, which together constitute the continuum of unrealisability-realisability of values. In accordance with their location in this continuum, we identified and described meaning types of values, and their dependence on age and gender were discovered. Materials from the article may be used in studies of the regulation of human life and psychological counselling.