Abstract
Prior research on intrinsic versus extrinsic values has focused on the comparative importance subjects assign to the two types of values, showing that relative intrinsic versus extrinsic value orientation (RIEVO) predicts higher or increased well-being. In two studies, we show that rated action taken regarding the two types of values is just as essential to study. Support was found for four hypotheses: (1) there was a significant behavior/importance gap, such that participants “walked” (acted on values) less than they “talked” (endorsed those values); (2) this was especially true for intrinsic values, an interaction suggesting that the intrinsic ideals of personal growth, community, and connection often receive only lip service; (3) the “walk” (behavior ratings) measure of RIEVO subsumed the “talk” (importance ratings) RIEVO measure’s effects on well-being outcomes, suggesting that researchers interested in predicting well-being from values should perhaps focus on rated value enactment, not value importance; and (4) participants with higher meaning in life, lower search for meaning, more self-concordance at work, and greater chronological age evidenced more consistency between their talking and their walking.




Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aronson, E. (1999). Dissonance, hypocrisy, and the self-concept. In E. Harmon-Jones & J. Mills (Eds.), Cognitive dissonance: Progress on a pivotal theory in social psychology (pp. 103–126). Washington, DC: APA.
Bardi, A., & Schwartz, S. H. (2003). Values and behavior: Strength and structure of relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 1207–1220.
Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2012). Self-regulation and the executive function of the self. In M. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed., pp. 180–197). New York: Guilford.
Brunstein, J. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1061–1070.
Carver, C., & Scheier, M. (1981). Attention and self-regulation: A control theory approach to human behavior. New York: Springer.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19–35.
Carver, C., & Scheier, M. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Costa, P. T., Jr., McCrae, R. R., Martin, T. A., Oryol, V. E., Senin, I. G., Rukavishnikov, A. A., et al. (2000). Personality development from adolescence through adulthood: Further cross-cultural comparisons of age differences. In V. Molfese & D. Molfese (Eds.), Temperament and personality development across the life span (pp. 235–252). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.
Derogatis, L., & Melisaratos, N. (1983). The Brief Symptom Inventory: An introductory report. Psychological Medicine, 13, 595–605.
Frey, Bruno. S. (2008). Happiness: A revolution in economics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Grouzet, F., Kasser, T., Ahuvia, A., Dols, J., Kim, Y., Lau, S., et al. (2005). The structure of goal contents across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 800–816.
Gunnell, K. E., Crocker, P. E., Mack, D. E., Wilson, P. M., & Zumbo, B. D. (2014). Goal contents, motivation, psychological need satisfaction, well-being and physical activity: A test of self-determination theory over 6 months. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(1), 19–29.
Kasser, T. (2002). The high price of materialism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410–422.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280–287.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Be careful what you wish for: Optimal functioning and the relative attainment of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. In P. Schmuck & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-being: Towards a positive psychology of human striving (pp. 116–131). Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.
Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C., & Sheldon, K. M. (2004). Materialistic values: Their causes and consequences. In T. Kasser & A. Kanner (Eds.), Psychology and consumer culture: The struggle for a good life in a materialistic world (pp. 11–28). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Niemiec, C. P., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post-college life. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 291–306.
Paulhus, D. L. (1984). Two-component models of socially desirable responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(3), 598–609.
Roberts, B., Donnelan, B., & Hill, P. L. (2013). Personality trait development in adulthood. In H. Tennen, J. Suls, & E. B. Weiner (Eds.), Handbook of psychology, Vol. 5: Personality and social psychology (2nd ed., pp. 183–196). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York: Free Press.
Ryan, R. M., & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 749–761.
Schultheiss, O. C. (2008). Implicit motives. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 603–633). New York: Guilford.
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the context and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Sebire, S. J., Standage, M., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2009). Examining intrinsic versus extrinsic exercise goals: Cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 31, 189–210.
Sheldon, K. M. (2004). Optimal human being: An integrated multi-level perspective. New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Sheldon, K. M. (2009). Goal-striving across the life-span: Do people learn to select more self-concordant goals as they age? In M. C. Smith & T. G. Reio (Eds.), The handbook of research on adult development and learning (pp. 553–569). New York: Routledge.
Sheldon, K. M., Arndt, J., & Houser-Marko, L. (2003). In search of the organismic valuing process: The human tendency to move towards beneficial goal choices. Journal of Personality, 71, 835–869.
Sheldon, K. M., Cummins, R., & Khamble, S. (2010a). Life-balance and well-being: Testing a two-pronged conceptual and measurement approach. Journal of Personality, 78, 1093–1134.
Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need-satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482–497.
Sheldon, K. M., Gunz, A., Nichols, C., & Ferguson, Y. (2010b). Extrinsic value orientation and affective forecasting: Over-estimating the rewards, under-estimating the costs. Journal of Personality, 78, 149–178.
Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (1995). Coherence and congruence: Two aspects of personality integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 531–543.
Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (1998). Pursuing personal goals: Skills enable progress, but not all progress is beneficial. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1319–1331.
Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (2001). Getting older, getting better? Personal strivings and personality development across the life-course. Developmental Psychology, 37, 491–501.
Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (2008). Psychological threat and goal striving. Motivation and Emotion, 32, 37–45.
Sheldon, K. M., Nichols, C. P., & Kasser, T. (2011). Americans recommend smaller ecological footprints when reminded of traditional American values. Ecopsychology, 3, 97–104.
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93.
Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Ntoumanis, N., & Nikitaras, N. (2010). Unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescent girls: A process model based on self-determination theory. Psychology & Health, 25(5), 535–550.
Van Hiel, A., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2009). Ambitions fulfilled? The effects of intrinsic and extrinsic goal attainment on older adults’ ego-integrity and death attitudes. The International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 68(1), 27–51.
Vansteenkiste, M., Neyrinck, B., Niemiec, C. P., Soenens, B., De Witte, H., & Van den Broeck, A. (2007). On the relations among work value orientations, psychological need satisfaction and job outcomes: A self-determination theory approach. Journal Of Occupational And Organizational Psychology, 80(2), 251–277.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., Weber, K., Assenheimer, J. S., Strauss, M. E., & McCormick, R. A. (1995). Testing a tripartite model: II. Exploring the symptom structure of anxiety and depression in student, adult, and patient samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 15–25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sheldon, K.M., Krieger, L.S. Walking the talk: Value importance, value enactment, and well-being. Motiv Emot 38, 609–619 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9424-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9424-3