value-instantiating beliefs
Definition
Value-instantiating beliefs refers to beliefs about whether a particular event or action benefits or threatens a basic human value, integrating a target (action or event), a value, and a direction (benefit vs. threat). VIBs capture act-by-value links and produce a snapshot of the motivational meaning of an event—for example, whether a person sees the war as primarily protective of their security, thwarting pro-social motives, or an invigorating challenge. In the Russian context, latent profile analysis identified two patterns of value-instantiating beliefs: one interpreting the war as preserving the social order (31% of participants) and another as undermining it (69% of participants), with the former associated with more positive attitudes towards the war and stronger intentions to support it, even after accounting for authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and national identity.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Related Terms
Applications
Value-instantiating Beliefs and War Attitudes
More conservation-aligned construals (Security, Conformity, Tradition) related to pro-war views, while universalism, stimulation, hedonism, and achievement-aligned construals related to less favorable views of the war. Individuals who construed the war as preserving the social order demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes towards the war compared to those who saw it as undermining the social order.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Value-instantiating Beliefs and Media Consumption
State media consumption was associated with seeing the war as more protective of conservation values (security, conformity, and tradition) and less beneficial for self-enhancement and stimulation values, while independent media consumption was associated with seeing the war as negative for conservation values and positive for stimulation and achievement.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Value-instantiating Beliefs and Political Action Intentions
Support intentions were higher among those with tradition-aligned construals and lower among those with achievement-power and hedonism-aligned construals, while intentions to resist the war related weakly with more benevolence-aligned construals and less tradition-aligned construals. The pattern of value-instantiating beliefs predicted intentions to take part in political action in support of or resistance to the war, even after accounting for authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and national identity.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
