values
Definition
Values refers to abstract goals that guide evaluation and selection of behavior, such as security, benevolence, achievement, conformity, tradition, universalism, and self-direction. Value-instantiating beliefs (VIBs) capture how individuals perceive whether particular events or actions benefit or threaten these values, integrating a target event, a value domain, and a direction of impact. Research on Russian citizens' construals of the war in Ukraine demonstrates that individuals systematically vary in assigning meaning to events through these value lenses, with consumption of state versus independent media associated with different patterns of value-based interpretation. VIBs explain how values motivate behavior: people act on a value only if they believe the action has consequences for that value, and these beliefs systematically covary with media exposure patterns.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Related Terms
Applications
Values and Media Consumption
State media consumption was associated with seeing events as more protective of conservation values—security, conformity, and tradition—while independent media consumption was linked to viewing events as negative for these values and positive for self-enhancement and stimulation values.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Values and Political Attitudes
Value-based construals of events predict attitudes and behavioral intentions. Individuals who construe events as enhancing conservation values show more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to take political action in support, while those seeing events as undermining these values demonstrate opposite patterns.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
Values and Resistance Behavior
Intentions to resist political outcomes relate to construals of events in terms of value meanings. The value-based meaning assigned to events thus connects to behavioral intentions regarding compliance and resistance.
Sources: Ponizovskiy et al. (2026)
