Where is the Location of “Health” in the Human Values System? Evidence from Estonia

Association of midlife value priorities with health-related quality of life, frailty and mortality among older men: a 26-year follow-up of the Helsinki Businessmen Study (HBS)

“…However, the PVP scale was modified from its original version Rosenberg's value assessment [29] to suit better Finnish culture. One limitation is that this value assessment does not capture the full Schwartz value circle which has been used in previous studies [7][8][9][10][11][12]. However, our sample is very homogeneous representing one culture of Caucasian upper social class men.…”

“…Personal values were assessed by asking: "How do you prioritize the following issues in your personal value system?" The items were: (1) pleasant working environment, (2) pleasant living environment, (3) job with appropriate challenges, (4) effective health services, (5) active social life, (6) exercise, (7) good possibilities for traveling, (8) variable life, (9) good health, (10) effective environmental protection, (11) long life, and (12) ability to spend a vacation at countryside. The participants were asked to evaluate all these issues using a scale as follows: 1 = not important, 2 = desirable, 3 = important, 4 = very important, 5 = imperative.…”

“…Consequently, health as a value is important to most individuals, and it has been recently positioned in the human values system [7]. According to this previous study, health values, in conjunction with other values, influence individual's health-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors.…”

“…Personal values can be defined as the important guiding principles in life [1][2][3] and they drive behavior and decision making [4][5][6]. Schwartz's value model [2] describes human values, and the "health" value item can be located mainly in the value of security, but also in hedonism, achievement, and universalism [2,7]. In addition, in Finnish community study [8], the Schwartz's value types of benevolence, tradition, and conformity were related positively to health, and in European study the values of benevolence and hedonism have been reported to contribute to life satisfaction [9].…”

“…According to this previous study, health values, in conjunction with other values, influence individual's health-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Therefore, health values may associate with objective and perceived health outcomes [7]. In addition, the findings of recent cross-sectional study [12] suggested that 1 3 giving a high value on health is related to health benefits.…”