Terminal and Instrumental Values

Our values help us decide the right course of action or the right way to behave in a particular content. When we discuss our values, we are often describing how we define ‘good’ and ‘how everyone should behave’.

There’s a lovely way to distinguish two types of values:

Terminal Values describe the end state of what you are working towards or believe is important. They are values like Freedom, Wisdom, Equality or An Exciting Life.

Instrumental Values describe the way we wish to achieve the end state. How we wish to behave or what we think of as ‘good’. They are values like Imaginative, Logical, Polite or Clean.

Terminal Values are what we want and Instrumental Values are how we want to get there.

Milton Rokeach described the Rokeach Value System (RVS) in 1973 using Terminal and Instrumental Values. Although Rokeach has been widely criticised for his choices of values and limiting each list to 18, nobody has developed a better system. Research using his Rokeach Value System (RVS) required participants to rank all of the values in two lists. It has demonstrated a correlation between values and the roles people aspire to and achieve.

The full list of Terminal Values

• A Sense of Accomplishment
• A World of Beauty
• A World at Peace
• A Comfortable Life
• An Exciting Life
• Equality
• Freedom
• True Friendship
• Mature Love
• Self-Respect
• Happiness
• Inner Harmony
• Pleasure
• Social Recognition
• Wisdom
• Salvation
• Family Security
• National Security

The full list of Instrumental Values

• Ambition
• Broad-Mindedness
• Capability
• Cheerfulness
• Cleanliness
• Courage
• Honesty
• Imagination
• Independence
• Intellect
• Love
• Politeness
• Self-Control
• Logic
• Obedience
• Helpfulness
• Responsibility
• Forgiveness

When you look sincerely at this list, you will probably find it lacks just the right words to describe your values. Fell free to add your own.

A great leader must first know themselves. What are your terminal and instrumental values?