Having defined values in my last post, now is the time to describe the types of values shaping the future. I will cover some of the previous systems for categorizing values I came across in doing the research for ConsumerShift, but right upfront it is important to acknowledge the most influential sources: Ron Inglehart and colleague’s World Values Survey and Don Beck and colleagues’ Spiral Dynamics. Building on their work, my work and the work of my many colleagues doing foresight consulting work over the last several years, four types (or categories) of values will be prevalent in the future:
Traditional: Focused on following the rules and fulfilling one’s predetermined role, with priorities such as respect for authority, religious faith, national pride, obedience, work ethic, large families with strong family ties, and strict definition of good and evil
Modern: Focused on achievement, growth and progress, with priorities such as high trust in science and technology (as the engines of progress), faith in the state (bureaucratization), rejection of out-groups, an appreciation of hard work and money, and determination to improve one’s social and economic status.
Postmodern: Focused on the search for meaning in one’s life, with priorities such as self-expression, including an emphasis on individual responsibility as well as choice, imagination, tolerance, life balance and satisfaction, environmentalism, wellness, and leisure.
Integral: Emerging as the leading edge of values change, with a more practical and functional approach to employing values that best fit the particular situation, enabling one to pursue personal growth with an understanding and sensitivity to larger systemic considerations.
More to come……Andy Hines
Sarah Place says
Where can I find your peer reviewed article to reference your work?
Andy Hines says
glad you are interested. One source is “Shifting Values: Hope and Concern for ‘Waking Up,’” On the Horizon, 21 (3), 2013. I’ll email you a copy.
andy