Self-esteem and values

The purpose of the present study was to connect personal values to self-esteem in 14 samples (N=3612) of pre-professionals, high school students, and adults, from Finland, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, and Estonia. Self-enhancement values (power, achievement) and openness to change values (self-direction, stimulation) were positively, and self-transcendence values (universalism, benevolence) and conservation values (tradition) were negatively, related to self-esteem. These direct relations between values and self-esteem were only partly consistent with predictions derived from Maslow's theory of growth and deficiency needs. In samples of pre-professionals, self-esteem was correlated with congruence between personal values and the prevailing values environment. On the group-level, endorsement of achievement and universalism values was more strongly and positively related to self-esteem in samples where these values were considered more important. In contrast, endorsement of self-direction and hedonism values was more strongly and positively related to self-esteem in samples where these values were considered less important. These group-level results are interpreted as suggesting that attainment of culturally significant goals may raise self-esteem, but that high self-esteem may be required for the pursuit of less socially desirable goals. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.