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Discovering the Millennials’ Personal Values Orientation: A Comparison to Two Managerial Populations

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Abstract

Values theory posits that individuals have values and they are formed by upbringing and life’s experiences and influence an individuals’ cognitive processes, decisions, and behavior. Emerging onto the business scene is a new population group, the Millennials. This research seeks to explore Millennials’ values from the viewpoint of their personal value orientation (PVO). Managerial PVO from the 1980s and 2010s are used as comparative populations. The Millennials’ PVO is generally consistent with managerial PVO from past research. They tend toward a Personal, rather than Social, and Competence, rather than Moral, value orientation. Yet, some subtle differences emerged. Millennials are more self-focused and less other-focused than managers from the 1980s or 2010s. They emphasize competency skills more than today’s managers but less than the managers of the 1980s and place more worth on moral values than managers of the 1980s but less than today’s managers.

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Notes

  1. While other value systems have appeared in the literature, most notable Schwartz and Bilsky (1987), and can be used to assess managerial values, in order to conduct a comparative analysis to other value orientation populations, such as managers, the Rokeach’s Value Survey is used here.

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Acknowlegments

This research was made possible by a grant from the A. J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust, 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Ethics in Business, Palumbo – Donahue School of Business, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA

    James Weber

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Correspondence to James Weber.

Appendix—Weights Assigned to Each Value in the Rokeach Value Survey

Appendix—Weights Assigned to Each Value in the Rokeach Value Survey

Based on the results from Weber (1990), each value in the Rokeach Value Survey is given the following weight and assigned to a specific value orientation:

Terminal Values (End States of Existence)

Personal value orientation:

  • A comfortable life (a prosperous life) = 5 = personal

  • An exciting life (a stimulating, active life) = 4 = personal

  • A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution) = 4 = personal

  • Family Security (taking care of loved ones) = 1 = personal

  • Freedom (independence, free choice) = 1 = personal

  • Happiness (contentedness) = 4 = personal

  • Inner harmony (freedom from inner conflicts) = 5 = personal

  • Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy) = 4 = personal

  • Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life) = 5 = personal

  • Salvation (saved, eternal life) = 3 = personal

  • Self-respect (self-esteem) = 5 = personal

  • Social recognition (respect, admiration) = 3 = personal

  • True friendship (close companionship) = 5 = personal

  • Wisdom (a mature understanding of life) = 4 = personal

Social value orientation:

  • A world at peace (free of war and conflict) = 5 = social

  • A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts) = 3 = social

  • Equality (equal opportunity for all) = 5 = social

  • National security (protection from attack) = 5 = social

Instrumental Values (Modes of Conduct)

Competence value orientation:

  • Ambitious (hard-working, aspiring) = 5 = competence

  • Broadminded (open-minded) = 2 = competence

  • Capable (competent, effective) = 5 = competence

  • Imaginative (daring, creative) = 5 = competence

  • Independence (self-reliant, self-sufficient) = 5 = competence

  • Intellectual (intelligent, reflective) = 5 = competence

  • Logical (consistent, rational) = 5 = competence

  • Responsible (dependable, reliable) = 4 = competence

Moral value orientation:

  • Cheerful (light-hearted, joyful) = 4 = moral

  • Clean (neat, tidy) = 3 = moral

  • Courageous (standing up for your beliefs) = 2 = moral

  • Forgiving (willing to pardon others) = 5 = moral

  • Helpful (working for the welfare of others) = 5 = moral

  • Honest (sincere, truthful) = 2 = moral

  • Loving (affectionate, tender) = 5 = moral

  • Obedient (dutiful, respectful) = 1 = moral

  • Polite (courteous, well-mannered) = 3 = moral

Neither value orientation:

  • Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined)

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Weber, J. Discovering the Millennials’ Personal Values Orientation: A Comparison to Two Managerial Populations. J Bus Ethics 143, 517–529 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2803-1

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