Value Attainment scale

Description

This measure (Value Attainment) was originally developed by Rokeach (1973). The original measure was designed to assess the importance ranking that a person assigned to 18 terminal values and 18 instrumental values. Terminal values describe desirable end states such as a comfortable life and can be catego­rized as self-centered or society centered. Instrumental values refer to modes of behavior and can be categorized as moral focused or competence focused. Moral-focused instrumental values include such modes of behav­ior as honesty or responsibility. Competence-focused instrumental values refer to modes of behavior such as logical or self-controlled. Studies of orga­ nizations have tended to use terminal values to assess the extent to which an employee’s job or work situation has helped the employee attain desired end states (George & Jones, 1996; Hochwarter, Perrewe, Ferris, & Brymer, 1999). Agle, Mitchell, and Sonnenfeld (1999) used an eight-item subset of the terminal values to describe the extent to which CEOs were self-focused or other focused. Although originally developed as a rank-ordering (ipsative) measure, the response options have also been changed to a Likert­ type scale in some applications in the 1990s (Agle et al., 1999; George & Jones, 1996; Hochwarter, Perrewe, Ferris, & Brymer, 1999).

Reliability

Coefficient alpha values for terminal values using a Likert-type response scale ranged from .85 to .93 (George & Jones, 1996; Hochwarter, Perrewe, Ferris, & Brymer, 1999).

Validity

Attainment of terminal values correlated positively with job satisfaction, job performance, and employee positive affectivity Attainment of terminal val­ues correlated negatively with turnover intentions and employee negative affectivity (George & Jones, 1996; Hochwarter, Perrewe, Ferris, & Brymer, 1999).

Source

Items

For the Likert-type measure of attainment of terminal values, responses are obtained on a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = least important and 7 = most important. Responses may also be obtained by requesting respondents to rank the values in order of importance (Brief, Dukerich, & Doran, 1991).

Terminal values items:

1. A comfortable life (a prosperous life)
2. An exciting life (a stimulating, active life)
3. A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution)
4. A world at peace (free of war and conflict)
5. A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts)
6. Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all)
7. Family security (taking care ofloved ones)
8. Freedom (independence, free choice)
9. Happiness (contentedness)
10. Inner harmony (freedom from inner conflict)
11. Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy)
12. National security (protection from attack)
13. Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life)
14. Saved (eternal life)
15. Self-respect (self-esteem)
16. Social recognition (respect, admiration)
17. True friendship (close companionship)
18. Wisdom (a mature understanding of life)

Instrumental values items:

1. Ambitious (hard-working, aspiring)
2. Broadminded (open-minded)
3. Capable (competent, effective)
4. Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)
5. Clean (neat, tidy)
6. Courageous (standing up for your beliefs)
7. Forgiving (willing to pardon others)
8. Helpful (working for the welfare of others)
9. Honest (sincere, truthful)
10. Imaginative (daring, creative)
11. Independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient)
12. Intellectual (intelligent, reflective)
13. Logical (consistent, rational)
14. Loving (affectionate, tender)
15. Obedient (dutiful, respectful)
16. Polite (courteous, well-mannered)
17. Responsible (dependable, reliable)
18. Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined)