In Parts 1 and 2, we have shown how personality research in the form of OCEAN and HEXACO has provided additional insights in the CDSM values systems research methodologies - and expanded insights into personal values systems and the way people present their values to the world.

Now it seems the appropriate juncture to introduce to new readers, or those not totally familiar with CDSM methodologies, to a model that helped bring together decades of data and refine it into a concise understanding of values systems – without losing the nuances contained in tens of thousands of pages of data available on our hard drives.

(p)Shalom Schwartz at the University of Jerusalem developed a model of values based on competing and similar values, which is arguably the most popular model of academic understanding in the world today – though almost unknown in commercial organizations. CDSM first tested the model in 2012, for congruence with our own empirical models derived from over 30 years of research – but primarily UK based.

As the Big 5 (OCEAN) was attempting to do with personality Schwartz was attempting to define human values as something that was common to all people, in all cultures, i.e. attempting to define common factors between all human psyches.

In this endeavour his model has been developed, tested, refined and modified over the last several decades until it has become a standard ‘go-to’ tool in the armoury of academic social researchers. Hundreds of peer-reviewed research documents are available for researchers such as ourselves to use and cross-tab with our own research.

So, from 2012 onwards, we have incorporated his scales into our own research. We have run the scales that create the Maslow Groups and Values Modes alongside the Schwartz scales and directly surveyed over 58,000 adults in 26 different countries that account for over 60% of the world’s population.

We have developed a standard presentation model which effectively presents the Schwartz segments in a form that is congruent with the Attributes contained in the CDSM Values Map. We call this SIMS – Schwartz in Maslow Space.

The exploration of OCEAN, looking for similarities and differences between personality research and values research, is aided greatly by the vast amount of work contained in the complex multi-attribute evidence-based models developed by CDSM and Schwartz.

These models, derived from different psychological, socio-cultural and historical understandings of the human condition are now coming together to provide a more rounded view of the basis for the biases and the heuristics of people holding different values systems – which in turn create attitudes and behaviours among all peoples of the world.

SIMS clearly illustrates the location of the CDSM Maslow Groups compared to the Schwartz values segments. This pattern has been observed in all 28 countries we’ve measured in the last four years. This seems to be approaching a gold standard measurement.

The Schwartz model’s main strength is that it provides evidence of basic human values and motivations in a form that provides similarities (segments close to each other share commonalities) and differences (segments opposite each other are antagonist to each other) – in other words ‘multiple-axis’ for users on the data to create deeper understandings of respondents and targets with relatively small amounts of data.

In part 2 of this series we explored and found that although the conceptual Honest/Humility factor was likely to ‘be real’ it also suggested that more research was needed to make it more robust and efficacious to users. The likely scales that could be developed – the crux of the robustness issue – could conceivably be suggested by the congruence the ‘pro tem’ HEXACO solution had with the Values Attributes contained in the CDSM and Schwartz models. The factors contained in the Universalism and Benevolence Attributes may be a way of further clarifying the scales to further develop usability of the Honesty/Humility 6th factor.

That seems relatively simple to do. Thus, this is not what intrigues us at CDSM.

CDSM and Schwartz both conclude that values can be both similar and dissonant with each other within individual values systems. This leads to the insight and evidence that scales or groups of scales that illustrate this create different axes in data sets – which in turn can be represented graphically to aid understanding of the underlying tensions within the minds of every human being. If we can find opposing segments creating an axis of factors at dissonance with each other, which creates extra dimensions to single facts, we have found that decision makers feel this is more useful than single factors dotted around a statistical space.

This is where the intrigue begins. Developing insights into the correlations between values research and personality research led to a search for a second axis (derived from HEXACO) that expanded OCEAN research. This was relatively successful, as noted in Part 2.

However, the opposite end of the proposed axis did not immediately ‘make sense’ in the way that Honesty/Humility did when correlating with the values segments Benevolence and Universalism.

The factor at the opposite end of the proposed axis with Honesty/Humility was the HEXACO factor called Emotionality.

One of the HEXACO sub-factors, Sentimentality, closely replicates the CDSM Attribute called Sensitive. This factor measures how emotionally empathetic a person is with others in strongly emotional situations, i.e. crying, either in happiness or sorrow. This was an encouraging correlation.

But then correlation between the models became less clear and raised more questions – a good thing from a researcher’s viewpoint but not so useful to a user looking for simple answers.

Past research had shown some strong correlations between Schwartz and CDSM models in this values space. The Schwartz model measures Control of Others, Material Wealth, and Visible Success in this area of values space. CDSM measures Attributes like Sensitive, Bender (bend a few rules to get ahead), Fantasy (sometimes loose links with reality) and Catharsis (rationally using violence to change situations) in the values space. In other words the space was about achievement, control and dominance.

Emotionality in the HEXACO model appears to be measuring personality factors that relate to fear and anxiety and looking for others to help in times of need.

At first these models seem to be at odds with each other – with the CDSM models of values correlating nicely with Schwartz but HEXACO seeming to do something different. Because OCEAN/HEXACO doesn’t claim to measure values this is not totally unexpected, but a first sight was a bit disappointing as so many of the comparisons between models up to now had been quite easy to assimilate and incorporate into mental models.

This perceived dissonance led to some real questioning of the evidence, both through further statistical tests, but also raising questions about what the data was saying, “What did it mean”?

An understanding of the Maslow Groups, and the subgroups of Values Modes, enabled us to realise that this is an area that is strongly associated with quite amorphous values, or those in transition from one state to another.

An understanding of the Maslow Groups, and the subgroups of Values Modes, enabled us to realise that this is an area that is strongly associated with quite amorphous values, or those in transition from one state to another.

This is like no other area of the map.

This is an area of the values map we have been studying for many years. This area measures some quite harsh factors relating to control of others in repressive ways, including violence against those perceived to be ‘different’, and a strong desire for individual validation by others.

This seems to suggest that people whose values systems are located near this part of the map may indeed place great importance on values that prize virtues like Material Wealth, Control of Others, Visible Success, but acknowledge they are more Sensitive than others, or even tend to daydream more than others. This has real implications for bullying behaviours amongst children, anti-social behaviours in the workplace (and on-line) and terrorist motivations.

The values systems of people who score highly in this area of the CDSM Values Map have Attributes that provide them with motivations to gain power and visible success in most social situations, especially at work.

However, the scales contained in HEXACO shows they lack the high degree of self-confidence that many would assume is a prerequisite for the power and success they strive for. Instead the HEXACO measures show they tend to worry about little things repeatedly, constantly and subconsciously looking out for danger, and anticipating needing others to help them in times of stress.

There is a significant disconnect between values models and personality models on this factor.

More questions than answers were raised as we searched for what this meant for understanding the people who espoused the values and personality factors.

Fortunately, CDSM had been testing other models – something we do on every survey – and a set of scales, measuring a set of self -identified traits, grouped together to create a model called Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), provided deeper insights into the Emotionality factor of the HEXACO model.

The factors within the SDO will frame the narrative of part 4 in this analysis of the links between CDSM values based typologies and OCEAN personality typologies – uncovering the dark side of OCEAN that is not exposed in the commercially available model.

More questions than answers were raised as we searched for what this meant for understanding the people who espoused the values and personality factors.

Fortunately, CDSM had been testing other models – something we do on every survey – and a set of scales, measuring a set of self -identified traits, grouped together to create a model called Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), provided deeper insights into the Emotionality factor of the HEXACO model.

The factors within the SDO will frame the narrative of part 4 in this analysis of the links between CDSM values based typologies and OCEAN personality typologies – uncovering the dark side of OCEAN that is not exposed in the commercially available model.