| Level | Values Definitions |
| Individual level- Personal Values | Values-those moral beliefs-to which people appeal for the ultimate rationale of their action, which act as elements of moral suasion |
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| “A value is a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable, which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action” |
| “Values are enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence” | |
| Values: cognitive representations of 3 universal human requirements: 1) biologically based organism needs, 2) social interactional requirements for interpersonal coordination, 3) social institutional demands for group welfare and survival | |
| Societal level-Cultural Values | Cultural values represent the implicitly or explicitly shared abstract ideas about what is good, right, and desirable in a society |
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| A society’s culture is composed of ideas represented in the minds of its people and inscribed in its artifacts |
| “Values are what defines culture, its character and quality. A cultural value is a socially sanctioned value that is typical of a given culture, that assists members of a society in making choices, directs them to their goals and constitutes a means for achieving them” | |
| Values must be understood as social bounds that strengthen membership and solidarity | |
| Values are very closely linked to culture and are “the set of fundamental beliefs held by an individual or group about what is valuable, what is fair, what constitutes right or wrong and similar ethical matters” | |
| Values are deeply cultural and contain a double meaning, as they are mental representations of what is worth valuing but also collective representations that cannot be reduced to individual opinions | |
| European values (two approaches): European values as founded on European heritage and the legal or political approach which considers values as presented in declarations/political documents and within treaties | |
| “Values are the fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate people, organizations, and communities, provide a basis for social justice and belief in necessary institutions. They also express personal and collective judgments about what is important – influenced by culture, religion, and laws. Values can potentially spur purposeful action aimed at increasing equality, decreasing harm to the environment, and improving global health” |