WHAT ARE VALUES ?

Values regulate and guide human behaviour and action in everyday life. Values are embedded in every word we select and speak, what we wear, ways in which we interact, our perceptions and interpretation of others’ reactions in what we say and so on. Values are formed on the basis of interests, choices, needs, desires and preferences. These comprise the nuclei of value formation. Values have a selective or directional quality. When preferences acquire certain definiteness, intensity and stability, these become the criteria for judgement, choices, action and grounds for decision-making in behaviour. Values thus are considered to be enduring beliefs upon which human beings act by preferences. 

Values involve the processes of thinking, knowing or understanding feelings and action. These involve feelings, i.e. strong liking for something, feeling deeply about the things one values and so on. People’s actions often give us clues as to what they value. If we watch what a person does in spare time when he or she is not being coaxed or threatened to do a particular activity, we may get some idea about what he/she values. Generally, value refers to the ‘desirable’. It is difficult, however, to define what is desirable, what kind of things or actions are good. What is desirable today may not be desirable tomorrow and what is desirable here may not be desirable elsewhere. 

Desirable is when our actions promote the general good in terms of the norms and ideals of a particular society and in terms of the consequences of our practices and actions. In the context of education we understand values on the basis of their intrinsic worth without reference to any end. Such values are called intrinsic or eternal values which are good in themselves and in their own right, and are not the means for something else. Values like truth, happiness, peace, beauty are considered intrinsic values and are desirable in any society. Values are sometimes confused with norms. 

The term ‘norm’ is used for a relatively specific pattern of expected behaviour and is obligatory. But value is a considered matter of one’s choice. For example, discipline is a value which could be adopted in every sphere of human activity but not everyone may follow it. Once a particular value is internalised by the person, it becomes a norm for that person in making judgement, preferences or a choice. The choice of what type of value a person prefers also makes values subjective in nature.