Where is the Location of "Health'' in the Human Values System? Evidence from Estonia

Schwartz et al. (J Pers Soc Psychol 103(4): 663-688, 2012) proposed a refined value theory. Like earlier value inventories, however, their measure captures only one approach to health-avoidance of disease. A broader measure to capture the full spectrum of the importance people place on health was developed, which was based on the World Health Organization's definition of health. It includes the components of physical, mental, social, and emotional health. Research materials comprised the answers of 1818 Estonian online-survey respondents, and multidimensional scaling was used. Association on the first two value dimensions showed that valuing health might be a consequence of different motivations. Health values were further found to disperse on a third dimension, which did not follow the conflicts and compatibilities ordering the original two value dimensions. Taken together, these findings indicate that health values operate in conjunction with other value types in guiding health-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, and therefore potentially relate to objective and perceived health outcomes.