The theoretical average for each value is 40 (240 points apportioned among six values), but individual profiles often demonstrate unique value patterns. Religious (unity of life: comprehension of life’s meaning, holiness)Įach individual receives a total score of 240 points, based on answers to questions describing a number of familiar situations, for instance, “If you had some time to spend in a waiting room and there were only two magazines to choose from, would you prefer (a) Scientific Age or (b) Arts and Decorations?” Consequently, the SOV measures the relative strength of each value orientation.Political (power in all realms: influence, leadership).Social (love of people: altruism, sympathy, caring).Aesthetic (form and harmony: grace, artistry in life).Economic (that which is useful: resourceful, practical affairs).Theoretical (the discovery of truth: empiricism, intellectualism).

The reasons for the extraordinary 50-year popularity of the SOV and its subsequent fall into psychological oblivion are discussed below, after a brief description of the instrument itself, two illustrations of its practical utility, and past reviewers’ evaluations.īased on the seminal work of Eduard Spranger, the SOV identifies six value orientations, which, briefly, are as follows: Third, it was integral to hundreds of research projects, such as those concerning group differences, changes in individual values over time (e.g., before and after divinity school training), and ascertaining patterns of value agreement among friends and family members.īy the late 1980s, though, the SOV was no longer in print. Second, the SOV was widely used in vocational and educational guidance (and even in marriage counseling). In this regard, the 1970 test manual noted that students are always interested in their own scores and enjoy a discussion of the results. First, the SOV provided a vivid classroom demonstration pertinent to courses in psychology, social psychology, personality, organizational behavior, and education. Designed primarily for use with upper-level high school students, college students, and adults, it become popular because it reflected a number of positive features, the most important being its multiplicity of applications. In terms of the metric of citation count, by 1970, the SOV was the third most popular nonprojective personality measure, after the Minnesota Mulitphasic Personality Instrument (MMPI) and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS). For decades after its initial development in 1931, the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values (SOV) had a substantial impact on psychological practice and research.

Manual test edwards epps