Test (or Study) of Values ​​of Gordon Allport

The Values ​​Study, a personality test developed by Gordon Allport, Philip Vernon and Gardner Lindzey, was one of the first psychological instruments to be developed with the aim of assessing personal values ​​or basic motivations. In this article we will analyze the content, the method of application and the variables that this test measures.

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The Allport Securities Study

The American Psychologist Gordon William Allport (1897-1967) is known primarily for his personalistic theory, one of the earliest attempts to explain personality from psychology, emphasizing the individuality of each human being and the active aspect of our nature, which drives us to achieve goals.

In 1931 Allport, together with Philip E. Vernon and Gardner Lindzey, published a scale for evaluating personal values, which can also be understood as basic motivations. This test was directly based on the book “Types of Men” by the philosopher Eduard Spranger and its creators called it "Study of Values".

Allport thought that a good way to analyze the personality of a specific individual is to evaluate what his moral values ​​are. In this sense, he gave much more importance to the present moment than to personal history, on which the psychoanalytic orientation was focused, which dominated the psychology of the time.

The objective of the Allport test and his collaborators is to determine the relative weight they have for a given individual six types of values: theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political and religious, which Spranger considered essential. Later we will describe in detail the definition of each of these basic motivations.

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Content and method of application of the test

The Allport test consists of two parts. The first one is made up of dichotomous questions; for example, item 24 (“Which of these books would you choose?”) includes the response options “A) History of religion” and “B) History of industrial development”. Currently, each item includes four response options depending on the intensity of the preference.

The second part contains statements with four response options that should be ordered according to the degree of relative preference. Thus, in item number 9. (“Which topic would you prefer to discuss in a meeting with close friends?”) we would have to order the options “A) The meaning of life”, “B) The latest scientific news”, “C) Literature” and “D) The socialism".

The total number of test items rises to 240: in the first part, 90 points are awarded to one or another of the values ​​that are evaluated, while in the second, 150 points are distributed according to how the response options of each of the questions have been ordered. items.

The Study of Values ​​can be applied both individually and collectively (that is, to several people at the same time). Although there is no set time limit to complete the test, examinees should try to answer the questions more or less quickly. It is important to mention that The test was designed for people with higher education.

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The 6 values ​​reflected in the test

The results of the Values ​​Study consist of obtaining six scores, one for each of the basic motivations managed by Spranger, as well as by Allport and his collaborators. The comparison between the scores in one and other variables indicates how important each of these values ​​(or behavioral tendencies) is for the person.

1. Theoretical

People with a high score on the theoretical value they want to find out the truth about things, that is, to obtain ordered and systematized knowledge through logical and empirical criteria.

2. Economic

The economic value is associated with the focus on the material and the practical. This includes asset accumulation, energy savings, and the utilitarian conception of relationships with other people.

3. Aesthetic

Those who score high on this motivation value beauty, harmony and formal aspects of reality, which is somewhat contrary to the theoretical value. His personal satisfaction derives from the creation and/or contemplation of aesthetic experiences.

4. Social

The main motivation of these people is to have the company of others, and helping others constitutes their core value. High scores on this variable indicate altruism, kindness, compassion and generosity.

5. Political

In this case, the main motivation is to obtain power and control over the behavior of other individuals; this is associated with leadership. Knowledge is seen as a means to achieve that goal.

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6. Religious

According to Allport, people governed by religious motives guide their behavior based on their spiritual beliefs and ethics. Both the definition of this value and the items that compose it are ambiguous and are probably the best example of the negative impact that the passage of time has had on the Study of Values.