Connection between structure of values and

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Connection between structure of values and subjective sense of success Andrzej Cudo

Agnieszka Kozak

Institute of Psychology The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Lublin, Poland [email protected]

Institute of Psychology The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Lublin, Poland

Abstract — This paper presents the research on the relationship between values and the subjective sense of professional and personal success. In addition, it focuses on showing the relationship between the sphere of values and perceptions of the success. Tests, presented in this paper, were carried out using a structured questionnaire of our own design with open goal which consists of three parts. The first part consisted of general questions, and the second part - questions about values. In the third part were questions about the subjective sense of success. The study was conducted on a group of 65 people (42 women, 23 men) on a purposive sampling. These people had to be older than 26 years and they had to have permanency. At the age of respondents ranged from 26 to 58 years (M = 37,48 years, SD = 9,83 years), and the average work experience was 12,87 years, with a standard deviation of 10,92 years. The study was able to extract the seven specific groups of values and three specific dimensions of success. In addition, the study showed a significant association between groups of values and the kinds of subjective sense of success. Structure of values, sense of success, professional work

I.

INTRODUCTION

People profess different kinds of values that are important to their environment, including friends, family, employers, etc. However, there are few fundamental questions: what are the values, where they come from and why they are necessary for optimal individual existence. In this aspect there is a discrepancy regarding the assessments, judgments, attitudes, or behavior towards them [1]. Moreover, questions presented abowe take on new meaning to the existence of a person for a phenomenon such as the success, including the success at the professional level. However, the above issues influences the chaos within the definition of the concept of success. In the market, there are many publications dedicated to the way to success [2,3,4]. However, they do not bring anything significant to the debate on this issue. In addition, they cause some kind of chaos, creating the only right way, based mostly on a hedonistic conception of success. Moreover, there is no consensus on the definition of that term among scientists. Therefore, you should consider whether the success is only a happy finale of a project [5], or intentional action of a person’s will [6,7].

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The issue of values in the context of success is not completely explored. Therefore, it is a new and intriguing research field. The issue of the value itself has been widely described in the literature [1,8,9,10], however, the approach based on the research on the phenomenon of success, including the context of a professional work is so far unfathomable field of exploration. II.

VALUES AND SUCCESS

A. Structure of values Starting from the beginning, the word value comes from the Greek word “aksia”. While the Latin equivalent of this word is "valeo", which means in translation “I have power” [9]. At this point it should be noticed that the value is something different from the process of valuation, which is a kind of process of transmitting meanings to things, people or events [10,11]. Aronson [12] points out that the man as a personal entity, discovers the values, lives by them and is involved in them. Moreover he refers to them, interiorizes them and therefore they shape his existence in the process of active "towards". Mieczysław Łobocki [13] draws attention to the fact, that the value is everything that is considered important and valuable to individuals people and society. Also it is desirable and is associated with positive experiences. It should not be forgotten, that, at the same time, it is also the goal of human aspirations. On the other hand value is defined as all that is the subject of needs, attitudes, ambitions and aspirations of man. In this case, it may be a institution, material object, person, kind of action or a idea. But if we understand the value as a tendency to favor certain things over other state, in this sense, the value can become a kind of indicators by which a person evaluates things and phenomena according to their validity. In this perspective, the value could have an impact on including selective perception, selection purposes and orientation of the purpose of data processing [10]. Maria Misztal [13] has made some type of analysis and identified three categories of the definition of values: 

psychological – in which attention is drawn to the fact that the values are individual phenomena and its related with experience;

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holy values;



spiritual values;



vital values;



sensory value [14].

Milton Rokeach developed another way of accounting the value. He thought that the value is a permanent conviction that a particular course of conduct or final state of existence is individually or socially preferable to an alternative course of action or the final state of existence [16]. The conviction, in turn, is a simple statement which can be described by "I am convinced that ...". Therefore the conviction is some kind of information that a person has about an object of the target conviction. Moreover, according to Rokeach values fall into two groups: ordering and prohibiting conviction. In addition to this conviction, which are the values refer to the object of conviction whether it is desirable or undesirable [17]. Rokreach also distinguished three components of value: 

cognitive;



emotional;



behavioral.

Rokeach`s hierarchy of values is ranked in order from the most central to the peripheral in the structure of beliefs. In his opinion, are the elements singled and situated very centrally in the system of conviction. In his opinion, the values are the single elements and they are situate very centrally in the system of conviction. Their location points to their importance and relevance of regulatory functions [17]. Moreover, the centrality of convictions in the value system has an impact on level of sensitivity to change. It follows that the conviction is more

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Health: biological, physical



The efficiency of the physical body

Scheler distinguished four groups of values according to their importance:

Psychological functions: sensation, experience, references, participation

One of the famous philosophers, involved in the values was Max Scheler. His idea was continued by Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyła. He developed the model of a perfect hierarchy of values and he believed that both value and the hierarchy of values objectively exists. Therefore, the universal hierarchy of values is located on this what is permanent in man, and covering all areas of human activity[14]. Scheller`s principal idea is a reference to the role and importance of values and more noble ideas of the consumption, oriented to a higher purpose than just the consumption of life. In addition, it emphasizes the fact that direct contact with the values we enter through the act of emotional, in that way the value is disclosed in a kind of intentional cognitive perception [15].

Healthy mental functioning and personality

However, this structuring does not wear out fully approaches and concepts of value.

On the other hand, Abraham Maslow in his research has focused on issues related to the individual process of development and growth of people, happiness, creativity, and human contact with the world. According to the creator of the concept, a man strives for updateing the internal potentials. Therefore, in this sense, Self-Actualization becomes a fundamental human desire [19]. In Maslow's hierarchy, the highest need is Self-actualization, which motivates people to pursue quality and unique potentialities. Moreover, it leads to go beyond the needs of lower order [19,20]. According to Maslow, Self-actualization is done by implementing values. Also he considered that people who have Self-actualization are motivated by internal values. It should be noted that not every person come to the realization of the highest need [19,20].

Mental functions values - manifested through the proper functioning of the mental structures

cultural - in which the foreground is the universal dimension of value, which is something external to the individual person but dominant in society;

Subject-personal life: aspirations, references, desires



centrally located, the harder it is to change, and a possible change may have significant consequences in the whole cognitive system [18].

Selftranscendence and conditions

sociological - in which values are primarily a social dimension;

Subjectively – personal values - expressed in the process of referring the subject "to ..." vitally significant value



Biological/physical values - revealed by the activity of the body's function and dynamics

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Figure 1. Valence existentially important and valuable.

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In turn, in the Popielski`s concept, values play regulative, emotionally and cognitively oriented role. The values are integrated with supply needs, desires, aspirations and specific anthropologically references and existentially important. In addition, the criteria used to identify the values are:



They differentiate the social sphere of the human personality and aspirations of people they differentiate. They are one of the determinants of diversity of psychological structures and individual aspirations [23].

1) recognizing them as important and service of life and health; 2) find their influence on the development of mental; 3) deep motivation; 4) leading to fullness of life in terms of bio-psychospiritual; 5) helping the existence of "being" and "become"; 6) is a reference point to the existence and support; 7) to be existentially valuable; 8) serve mature motivation [8,21]. The values are necessary for the development and existence of the person. while they are available directly experience and they are related to the three dimensions of human existence, as shown in Figure 1.

On the other hand, Okła presents following functions of values:

In his concept the author points out that the values are bipolar. It means that, on the one hand they may be close, creative, etc., on the other distant and destructive. In addition, he states that experienced values are characterized by:

B. Sense of success The people giving the definition of success often describe it as doing something what they want, to maintaining and developing close relationships with a partner, close family and friends. For others, success is a slow process requiring many responsible decisions, actions, sacrifices and dedication, giving the magnitude of happiness, pride, satisfaction and selffulfillment. It is also a process which gives a kind of selffulfillment and self- actualization in any area. On the other hand, it is recognized as an achievement for something that was planned. By contrast, people often define success at work as developing their careers according to plan, professional advancement, high earnings. On the other hand, they describe it as job satisfaction, which gives joie de vivre, a sense of accomplishment and provides an opportunity for development.

a) bipolarity - existential positive and negative values; b) dynamism - activate and motivate existence; c) variable expandability - in the development process they are variable by the involvement and demand; d) subjective experience - always have a individual and personal character; e)

social maintaining - rooted in social life;

f)

cultural conditioning - born in cultural achievements;

g) periodical intensification - are temporarily laid motivating force and point at the personal identification; h) individual expandability- support the existence in the implementation of life "to"; i) individual organization - personalized in the process of implementation [8,21]. In this perspective, the concept has been extended to human noetic dimension, as a new direction in thinking about the individual deepening the understanding and explanation of the phenomenon of human life [22]. The values in human life are the foundation of his life. They also became a way of living and taking the attitude towards the existing world. The values match various types of functions in human life. Matusewicz identifies four basic functions of the values: 

They are a kind of criterion for the selection of specific actions, behaviors and aspirations of the individual.



They integrate the individual with society.



They guide the individual way of human life, because the values give a concrete dimension of human selfdevelopment process in the society.

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

normative;



motivational;



integrative;



creating the meaning [24].

This part shows that the values are very important in the lives of people and they serve different functions in the context of human functioning. On the one hand, they are determining factors and modifying human behavior. On the other hand they are the motivating factors for them.

The basic problem is the subjectivity in determining what is a unique success. It stems from the fact that every person has a different representation of the world and in any other way he perceives it [25]. In addition, the literature can be found various types of definition of success, Sillam [5] defines success as a happy finale of a project. At the same time, he points out that success is a factor independent of the person undertaking for the existence of a state of affairs. However, some researchers [7] points out that success is a result of the activity of the individual. They consider that person is a creator of activities which lead them to success. In addition, Maciuszonek [7] points out that success is the achievement of personal goals which go beyond the current state of affairs at the level of achievements and accomplishments. In this sense, there is a transgression, the human tendency to push boundaries and go beyond what has been achieved [26]. Markowski [6] shows that the characteristic features of success are: 

independence and happiness - success is the result of a series of planned activities;

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

a significant effort to achieve success - this effort is supported by the ingenuity and perseverance despite emerging adversity;



the uncertainty of the individual in achieving the goals on the way to success;



a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and satisfaction with its achievements.

The success of this action at the highest level possible of the person towards fulfilling the dreams and desires. It takes into account the individual moral code, while maintaining a balance between all dimensions of life. Success is the intentional state that is realized within a specified time. For the definition of success a designation of the values which constitute its determinant is needed [27]. However, It should not be forgotten that the success can be viewed in two ways, as a state or as a process. Success as a state is a subjective conviction of person that what he has achieved is a result of deliberate action. Moreover, it constitutes a holistic satisfaction with life, which is based on a unifying philosophy of existence and a sense of coherence. Success as a process is the cross of our abilities and go beyond what has been achieved and what is positively evaluated by the person and the environment. These definitions show the problems of success, not only in a static way, but also as a dynamic phenomenon, which is reflected in the dynamics of a person's life [27]. This understanding of success is shown in figure 2.

success

career success, there is also significant relation with three dimensions of values (noetic, mental, physical) currently structuring the lives with personal success. The exception is the subjective sense of personal success where no indication of a similar compound in the psychological dimension of values. In addition, it should be noted that the values with the noetic dimension are needed for achieve professional success and personal success [27]. However, the weaknesses of the Popielski`s theory, which are associated with confusion and a possible lack of conceptual clarity impede the interpret the results [21]. On one hand, these results may appear, what shows Rokeach, two basic groups of values: the final - that is the most important objectives of an individual's life, and instrumental - that are associated with the general methods of conduct. Also they are some kind of useful resources for the implementation of the final value [17]. On the other hand, referring to the Maslow's theory, a person realizes the need of a lower order on the way to self-actualization. Together with these needs may appear specific values [10]. From these empirical attempts to capture the issues shows that the values are an important dimension in the understanding of success. However, there is a big problem with a clear analysis of the received data. Therefore, this work attempts to analyze the relationship of professional success and personal success. It also tries to find these relationships through the exploration of research material. Therefore, this work is exploration. it is focused on the study of values in the context of subjective sense of success. The research problem concerns the analysis of components of the relationship between professed values and a sense of success and is associated with an exploratory question: What is the structure of the relationship between values and a sense of success? III.

as a process

as a state Figure 2. Success as a state and as a process.

In this paper, for the transparency of argument, success will be considered as a state. However, it should not be forgotten that success can also be seen in the context of the process. C. Between values and sense of success The results of previous studies [27] show a statistically significant correlation between the noetic and psychological dimension of values and the subjective sense of success at the professional level. The additional analysis shows that this relationship occurred in the values which guided people in their lives and those who recognized the need for a successful career. This relationship did not appear in case of those values, which are determined as needed in working life. As in the case

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METHODS

A. Characteristics of group The study was conducted on a group 65 people (43 women, 23 men) on a purposive sampling. These people had to be older than 26 years and they had to have permanency. At the age of respondents ranged from 26 to 58 years (M = 37,48 years, SD = 9,83 years), and the average work experience was 12,87 years, with a standard deviation of 10,92 years. B. Methods used in research The questionnaire used in this research is copyright and consists in its structure four parts. In this paper, the analysis covers only three parts of the questionnaires. The first part contains personal questionnaire respecting general information about the person and the work performed by him/her. The second part consisted of a list of values with sevenpoints response scale. The list of values was inspired by Kazimierz Popielski Preferences Scale of Values [21]. In principle, it recognizes three groups of values - noetic, psychological and material. The first group, associated with noetic sphere included values such as wisdom, love, desire, dignity, freedom, hope and responsibility. The second group, which refers to psychological dimension the following areas have been included: education, achievement, health, position in

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C. The test procedure Studies have been conducted using a structured questionnaire with an open goal. The questionnaire was in paper and electronically form. Electronically form placed on the Internet platform: e-ankieta.org. However, in both forms (material and digital) were shipped directly or indirectly to a group of subjects. IV.

RESULTS

The answers given by respondents were statistically analyzed using the statistical package Statistica 8.0 and SPSS 17.0. Analysis had missed the division proposed by Popielski. This was done because previous studies have highlighted the weaknesses the Popielski`s division [27]. Therefore, the analysis of the structure was performed using hierarchical cluster analysis - agglomerative clustering. It was performed using Ward's method. This method is distinct from all other methods because it uses an analysis of variance approach to evaluate the distances between clusters [29]. Dissimilarities (similarities) or distances between objects when forming the clusters were defined on the basis of the correlation coefficient (1-r Pearsona). The correlation coefficient was treated as a measure of similarity between variables [29]. A similar type of analysis used for the third part of questionnaire. Furthermore, for each cluster was carried out factor analysis. It was performed for the purpose of checking the internal coherence of the created clusters. Separate clusters was not compared with each other until after of these analysis. A. Separate clusters of values In this condition, cluster analysis was performed on the set of all values (21 values) to select the optimal quantity. This analysis has obtained four clusters: 

first cluster: money, material possessions, the use of life, having the pleasure;



second cluster: career, position in life, achievement, education, health;



third cluster: responsibility, family, dignity, hope, love;



fourth cluster: home, sex life, freedom, desire, wisdom, work, having the goal.

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TABLE I.

Values

The third part consisted of 21 statements related to the subjective sense of success in private life and at the professional level. The statements used in this section are based on the definition of the success presented in the theoretical part of this work, and an article written by Małgorzata Siekańska [28]. Subjects were given the task to respond to individual theses on a seven point scale, where 1 mean definitely not, and 7 - definitely yes.

Next, factor analysis was performed for each clusters. This analysis was designed to check consistency of the extracted clusters. This analysis revealed seven factors, which are mutually consistent. Table 1 presents the assignment of values included to each of the factors. Each factor was given the name that corresponds to its specificity. ASSIGNMENT OF VALUES TO GUIDE THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS FOR EACH SEPARATE FACTOR.

Factor 1 the material life money material possessions

Factor 5 the feelings

Values

life, family, having the goal and having the pleasure. And the third dimensions defined as the physical recognize material possessions, money, the use of life, work, sex life, home and career. The subject was to answer the questions: How much Mr / Ms directed these values in your life? On a scale, 1 mean definitely low, while the 7 - definitely high.

hope love

Factor 2 the hedonic values the use of life having the pleasure

Factor 6 the tasting life home sex life freedom desire having the goal

Factor 3 the personal development career position in life

Factor 4 the family values responsibility family

achievement education health Factor 7 the values of work wisdom work

dignity

B. Separate clusters of success Similar analyzes were carried out in the case of items related to a sense of success. First, cluster analysis was performed for all 18 items. In this analysis, three clusters were extracted. The first cluster consisted of 3 items. The second cluster contained six items. The third cluster contained eight items. Factor analysis showed that the extract clusters are internally consistent. Extracted factors were included as three separate scales that measure different dimensions of success. Content analysis of statements was used to determine the extent of the meaning of scale. The resulting scales can be described as 

first scale (4 items) - sense of lack of private success. The person who achieves a high score on this scale suffers from a lack of success in private life.



second scale (6 items) – lack of feeling of success and lack of hope for its achievement in the future. The person who achieves high scores on this scale has little hope for success (professional or private) in his life.



third scale (8 items) - sense of lack of professional success. The person who achieves a high score on this scale suffers from a lack of success in professional life.

C. The relationship between the dimensions of values and the scales of succes In this condition, we analyzed the relationship between the dimensions of values and the scale of success. We estimated actual values of individual case for the factors. Factor scores were used to analyze the relationship between these variables. It should not be forgotten, that the person who achieves a high score on three of the seven dimensions of values (the personal

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development, the family values and the tasting life) recognizes this dimensions as unimportant. This situation is the result of factor analysis for distinguishing dimension of values. The statistically significant correlation was observed for all four dimensions of values: the hedonic values, the personal development, the feelings and the tasting life with the second scale of success:the lack of feeling of success and the lack of hope for its achievement in the future. In addition, statistically significantly correlation was noticed between the dimension of material life values, the tasting life and the first scale of success: the sense of lack of private success. Furthermore there was a statistically significant correlation between the third scale of success: the sense of lack of professional success and three dimension of values: the hedonic value the personal development and the values of work. Table 2 illustrates the aforementioned relationship. TABLE II.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STRUCTURE OF VALUES AND SUBJECTIVE SENSE OF SUCCESS.

Dimensions of values

sense of lack of private success

Scale of success lack of sense of lack feeling of of success and professional lack of hope success for its achievement in the future -0,19 -0,06

the material life the hedonic values

-0,31* -0,22

-0,38**

-0,30*

the personal development

0,10

0,32**

0,36**

the feelings the family values the values of work the tasting

-0,17 0,07

-0,25* 0,17

-0,07 0,10

-0,17

-0,15

-0,36**

0,33*

0,39**

0,20

life * p