Psychologists have collected data from thousands of people in
dozens of nations around the world to understand what humans
value and how they prioritize different aims in life. These
studies consistently show that the human value system is
composed of about a dozen basic types of values, including aims
such as having caring relationships, having fun, pursuing
spiritual understanding, and feeling safe. Thus far, the
evidence suggests that people in every corner of the globe
appear to care about and be motivated by each of these basic
values, at least to some extent. Not only do people have the
same fundamental types of values, but these values are also
organized in similar ways in people’s minds.1,2 Specifically,
the evidence strongly suggests that the human value system is
organized such that some values tend to be relatively consistent
with each other, and thus easy to pursue simultaneously, whereas
other values tend to be in relative conflict, and thus difficult
to pursue at the same time. The extent of com