Values Questionnaire
What are values?
Values are the basic attitudes a person has to what is right and wrong, and to what is important and
unimportant in life.
Whether we like it or not, we often have to make decisions in our daily lives based on our values. As
classmates you have to decide whether or not to tell the teacher about the cheating that went on in
last week’s vocabulary test. As citizens you have to decide whether or not to stop and pick up the icecream wrapping that fell next to the rubbish bin rather than in it. As consumers you have to decide
whether to buy the cheap coffee produced by underpaid and exploited workers or the slightly more
expensive one with the “Fair Trade” emblem on it.
Values are not just a private matter. Values are the basis on which society is built, the shared ideas
about right and wrong that underlie our laws and the way we behave to each other. Such social
values vary from one society to another. For example, in Norway cars stop for people waiting to cross
the street; in the USA people waiting to cross the street stop for cars. When you travel in a foreign
country, it is important to be aware of all the “secret codes” that are based on social values.
What are your values? Find out by filling out the questionnaire below.
1
Respect for authority is something all children should be taught.
Strongly disagree 1
2
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Women should have the right to decide whether they will have an abortion or not.
Strongly disagree 1
4
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
People of the same sex should be allowed to marry.
Strongly disagree 1
3
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
The best society is the one where people are most equal.
Strongly disagree 1
5
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
We in the rich countries have a duty to help poor people in the world.
Strongly disagree 1
12
Mostly disagree 2
I am willing to accept a lower standard of living if it helps stop climate change.
Strongly disagree 1
11
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree
Adoption should only be allowed for married, heterosexual couples.
Strongly disagree 1
10
Mostly disagree 2
Usually poverty is caused by laziness.
Strongly disagree 1
9
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree
It is the duty of the family to look after old people.
Strongly disagree 1
8
Mostly disagree 2
No culture is better than another. They are just different.
Strongly disagree 1
7
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
I am willing to fight for my country.
Strongly disagree 1
6
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
If climate change is caused by fossil fuels, Norway as a producer of oil and gas has a special
responsibility.
Strongly disagree 1
13
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Petrol prices are far too high in this country.
Strongly disagree 1
14
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
There are crimes for which capital punishment (the death penalty) is justified.
Strongly disagree 1
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
15
I would never inform against a member of my family, no matter what he or she had done.
Strongly disagree 1
16
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Parents should stay together for the sake of their children.
Strongly disagree 1
22
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
There are situations in which it is right to lie to children.
Strongly disagree 1
21
Mostly disagree 2
The family is society’s most important institution.
Strongly disagree 1
20
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Hitting children is always wrong.
Strongly disagree 1
19
Mostly disagree 2
There are no subjects that should be seen as too “holy” for comedy.
Strongly disagree 1
18
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Parents should be held responsible when their children commit crimes.
Strongly disagree 1
17
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4
Sex outside of marriage is a bad thing.
Strongly disagree 1
Mostly disagree 2
Mostly agree 3 Strongly agree 4