Spranger Values Ranking

Spranger Guiding Values

German psychologist Eduard R. Spranger identified six attitudes / values towards life in his 1928 book, Types of Men: The Psychology and Ethics of Personality.

Gordon W. Allport and Philip E. Vernon developed a way to measure those attitudes in 1931, known as the Study of Values.

All six values are unconsciously present in our minds as instinctive ways of thinking about life.

“Motivational Interests”

Spranger’s values could also be described as “motivational interests.” Each value motivates us to take purposeful actions in different ways.

Spranger wrote that at times some values are emphasized over others and that values combine in “complicated sets.” One value — the 1st value — tends to be the strongest and combines with the 2nd value in what I call a guiding value blend, the “complicated set” Spranger described.

Guiding values guide our most basic decisions in life.

The other values have 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th placement in our lives. These values have different meanings for us:

Situational

Split

Negative

Neutral

I added the split placement because of my own experiences with Usefulness passions.

Value passions are situational when they motivate us to take purposeful actions only in certain situations.

With split values, purposeful actions depend on task or people orientation. Split values will influence positive purposeful actions toward one orientation (people or task) and negative purposeful actions toward the other orientation. I don’t know how many people have a split value.

Negative values have only negative meaning for us. At times we take purposeful actions against values we believe will have a negative effect on us or on people who are important to us.

Neutral values have neither positive nor negative meaning for us. We seldom take any purposeful actions for or against a value we see as neutral.

Value Descriptions

Spranger described the values as

Theoretic

Economic

Aesthetic

Social

Political

Religious

I describe them as:

Knowledge

Usefulness

Harmony

Helping

Position

Belief

Other modern researchers use different words.

If you search the Internet for “DISC behavior styles” you will find companies that produce individual reports on both DISC behavior styles and Spranger values/attitudes. I think I am the only researcher using Spranger’s name. I took an attitude assessment before I read Spranger’s book. I did not understand the Aesthetic value until I read Spranger’s book. The information about the Aesthetic attitude in my assessment had very little meaning for me.

As far as I know, I am the only researcher who uses the word “passion” with Spranger values.

Paula’s Value Ranking

My value ranking is:

1st
Guiding Value
Helping

2nd
Guiding Value
Knowledge

3rd
Situational Value
Belief

4th
Situational Value
Harmony

5th
Split Value
Usefulness

6th
Negative Value
Position

Paula’s Usefulness value is split because
she wants usefulness from objects
but dislikes the idea of people being discarded as useless.

Paula’s mother saw her as useless
for being a girl instead of a boy.

The 1st value for Paula’s mother was Position.
Though Position is negative for Paula,
she does have satisfying relationships with people
who have Position as one of their guiding values.

Ranking Your Values

When you rank your values, start with your guiding values. You should be able to identify them using Guiding Values Quick Look. Then think about the other values for a while — days, weeks, or months, if necessary.

I learned about Spranger values from a company that told me I would have two guiding values, two situational values, one negative value, and one neutral value. Trying to rank my values according to their definitions, I ranked two of my values incorrectly. It took me years to stop thinking their way and start understanding how all of the values motivated actions in my life.

You probably will have two guiding values. After that, you could have any combination of situational, split, negative and/or neutral values. Take your time to get it right.

For example, my guiding values are Helping with Knowledge. I buy books and magazines that I spend time reading for useful information. I put energy into finding connections between different pieces of useful information. I put more time and energy into writing blog posts and handouts and books so other people can use the connected information to create more success in their lives.

I use words like “help” and “this information” and “I read” and “I heard” when I make decisions. I also talk about facts and situations and ideas I find fascinating and often talk about how those facts and situations and ideas make life better or worse for particular people.

Use the Guiding Values Quick Look to quickly identify your Guiding value blend. Use the guidelines below to help you identify and rank all of your values.

If you take purposeful actions against a particular value, that value is negative.

If you take no purposeful actions for or against a value principle, that value is neutral.

For many people, both their 3rd and 4th values are situational.

The 3rd value is stronger than the 4th value.

The 4th value is stronger than the 5h value. The

5th value is stronger than the 6th value.

Once you have figured out your value ranking, make sure you understand your passions so you can satisfy them an spark more success for yourself.

If we do not have the food and water we need to satisfy our hunger and thirst, we have difficulty sparking success. If we are unable to take actions that satisfy our value passions, we have difficulty sparking success. Just as you would make a point of satisfying your hunger and thirst needs, make a point of satisfying your guiding value passions.

You will be most successful if you satisfy your guiding value passions in ways that are respectful to the value passions of other people.

Ranking Values For Other People

You will probably not be able to rank all of the six values for most of the people in your life, if any.

DISC behavior styles are observable on the outside in the way people walk, talk, and go about the business of their lives. Spranger value passions are on the inside.

If you want to know value ranking for other people, you will probably have to ask them to rank their own values. They will need time to think about how the passions of each value motivate their purposeful actions.

Identifying Guiding Values

You should, however, be able to identify their guiding values because people make daily decisions based on their guiding values.

You can identify your own and other people’s Guiding values in 2 ways:

Guiding Values Quick Look

Verbal Clues

Satisfying Value Passions Safely

Satisfying guiding value passions can be difficult when someone else’s guiding values are opposite your guiding values. In those situations, provide moments of passion in small ways.

Satisfy the guiding values passions of other people only in the ways that leave you feeling safe and respected.

Do not allow other people to manipulate you into questionable actions.

Satisfy the value passion of other people for their sake, not for your sake.

Never assume that you can change the guiding values of another person.

Use the information from Spranger Passions In Relationships to tell the people in your life how to communicate with you in ways that satisfy your value passions.

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