A632.5.4.RB - How Protected are Your Protected Values?

When we are confronted with a choice our values determine what path we will take.  We are constantly in a struggle to have our values met. When we act in accordance with our values we feel contentment and satisfaction, knowing we are living a life full of what is most important to us.  When we act inconsistently with our values we feel dissatisfaction, unease, and incongruity. For example, I value health and fitness. Every time I eat a cookie I feel a slight tinge of guilt, knowing that my actions have been inconsistent with my values.  Our personal values have a large impact on our goals and the direction of our life. Our personal values determine how we act in different situations. Our decision making is the way we work to fulfill our personal values.

Many of the decisions we are faced with are not so simple.  Many of our choices include conflicting values. “When faced with a particular decision, we are called upon to figure out what general values are implicated and then weigh these values to maximize utility.  This process is difficult when the implicated values are emotional or if two or more values conflict in a way that is not easily resolved” (Hoch, Kunreuther, & Gunther, 2001, p. 248). Decisions that involve conflicting values result in trade offs; the value I place on a delicious cookie at times outweighs my value of health and fitness.  

Protected values (PVs) are those values that we shield from trade-offs; they are values that we consider to be absolute. Protected values are particularly protected from trade-offs with economic values (Baron & Spranca, 1997). “People with these PVs do not think these values should be sacrificed for any compensating benefit, no matter how small the sacrifice or how large the benefit.  In other words, the values should be protected from trade-offs” (Hoch, et al., 2001, p. 251). Oftentimes these protected values contain moral or ethical undertones. Three of my protected values are interrelated: the value of divine preeminence, the value of integrity, and the value of family.

I value my belief in a Divine Being.  My belief about God, that He is preeminent, all knowing, and all powerful, influences my values and my decisions.  I believe that His preeminence gives Him the right to give His children commandments, and that His omnipotence enables Him to know what is best for us.  Since this is a protected value of mine it is not something that is eligible for trade-offs. Financial or other opportunities that would require me to compromise my values or standards are not open for discussion.  For example, I believe that God has asked His children to keep the sabbath day holy. I have turned down opportunities for jobs that would require a trade-off of this value.

I value integrity.  I believe in doing the right thing.  I struggle to understand and relate to people who cheat, lie, steal, or take advantage of others.  Several years ago I was remodelling our laundry room. Near the end of the project I went to a home improvement store to buy two large storage cabinets.  When I got home I realized that the cashier had not charged me for both cabinets; she had only charged me for one. It was an easy decision to return to the store and pay for the second cabinet.  I know that many people would have justified themselves in not paying for the second cabinet saying it was not their fault, it was the cashier that made the mistake. I don’t think that is honest, and my value of integrity would not allow me to make that trade-off.  I will not exchange my integrity for a financial benefit.

I place high value on family.  I believe it is a parent’s responsibility to act in the best interest of his or her children.  As a father, it is my responsibility to teach my children to be contributing members of society and to provide opportunities for them to learn everything they need to know to confront the challenges of life as they become adults.  I believe that family life takes precedence over wealth, fame, prestige, or anything else. I recently accepted a job offer that will take our family back to Arizona. I believe this move will provide my children with better opportunities for the future.  The job pays significantly less than my current job, but since I place such high value on my family it is worth the trade-off; less money for a better situation for my family. I have turned down other job opportunities and promotions that would have required more of my time and negatively impacted my family.  

There are both positive and negative aspects of protected values.  “Protected values are useful because they ensure that values will be kept in mind in every decision, but they are harmful to policy makers and managers because they make trade-offs impossible and conflicts between competing values impossible to resolve” (Hoch, et al., 2001, p. 255).  As I have learned about and studied the idea of protected values it has helped me to understand why I make some of the decision that I make. It has not caused any shift in the way I look at these values. As we understand our most important values it helps us to understand our decision making processes objectively.    


References

Baron, J., & Spranca, M. (1997). Protected values. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70(1), 1-16. doi:10.1006/obhd.1997.2690

Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H. C., and Gunther, R. E. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

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