Rosemounts Institute — Well-being › Skills › Careers™
Page languageRead in your language

Choose a language to translate this page.

Translations are automatic. The original English page remains the official version.

Contact Us
Assessments & Discovery

PVQ educational guide · Values, priorities and tensions

Understand what a values profile can—and cannot—show.

The Portrait Values Questionnaire uses short descriptions of people to explore the relative priority a respondent gives to basic human values. Its purpose is reflection and structured interpretation, not a fixed label or moral ranking.

Read the PVQ guideSee the wider evidence approach

This restored page preserves the established PVQ address and educational intent without presenting a values profile as a diagnosis or prediction.

The model in plain language

Portraits, ten values and a circular relationship.

The guide retains the useful substance of the previously indexed page while aligning it with Rosemounts’ current limits on assessment claims.

01

The questionnaire

Values are approached through short portraits

The Portrait Values Questionnaire is associated with Shalom H. Schwartz’s theory of basic human values. Rather than asking people to rank abstract value words directly, it presents short descriptions of people and asks how similar the respondent feels to each portrait.

  • Concrete portraits rather than abstract labels
  • Relative priorities across values
  • Designed for research and structured assessment contexts
02

Ten broad values

The classic model describes ten motivational priorities

The ten broad values are Self-Direction, Stimulation, Hedonism, Achievement, Power, Security, Conformity, Tradition, Benevolence and Universalism. Everyone can value all ten; the pattern concerns their relative priority, not whether a person possesses or lacks a value completely.

  • Growth and openness: Self-Direction, Stimulation
  • Personal focus: Hedonism, Achievement, Power
  • Stability and care: Security, Conformity, Tradition, Benevolence, Universalism
03

The circular structure

Neighbouring values tend to share motives; opposing values can create tension

Schwartz’s model places values in a circle. Values near one another express related motivations, while values across the circle can compete in a particular choice. That tension is often more informative than treating one value as the whole story.

  • Compatible priorities can reinforce one another
  • Competing priorities can explain difficult choices
  • Context affects which value becomes most visible
04

Interpretation boundary

A values profile supports reflection; it does not deliver a verdict

Formal instruments require appropriate versions, administration and interpretation. A values result can help someone explain what matters in a decision, but it should not diagnose personality, predict guaranteed outcomes or replace the person’s own reasoning.

Read Rosemounts’ assessment limits
  • Read relative priorities, not good and bad values
  • Connect scores with examples from real choices
  • Use other evidence for education and career decisions

Use values evidence

Connect the profile with a real choice.

Values become useful when the person can recognise them in lived examples and weigh genuine trade-offs.

  1. 01

    Read the relative pattern

    Notice the strongest priorities and nearby values instead of treating one scale in isolation.

  2. 02

    Find real examples

    Ask where the same priorities appear in study, work, relationships and past decisions.

  3. 03

    Name the tension

    When two valued outcomes compete, make the trade-off visible and choose a revisable next step.

Questions people ask

What to know before you begin.

What does PVQ stand for?

PVQ stands for Portrait Values Questionnaire, a family of instruments associated with Schwartz’s theory of basic human values.

Does everyone have all ten values?

The model treats the values as broadly recognised human motivations. People differ in the relative priority they give them and in how those priorities appear in a particular context.

Are some values good and others bad?

The questionnaire is not a moral scorecard. It describes motivational priorities and possible tensions. Responsible interpretation considers context and avoids judging a person from one score.

Can the PVQ choose a career?

No. Values can clarify what a person wants work or education to support, but interests, skills, personality, opportunity and responsibilities also matter.

Begin with a conversation

Use values to improve the question.

Rosemounts can explain how values sit beside interests, personality, skills and context in a career-guidance conversation.

Send an enquirySend an enquiryinfo@rosemounts.org