WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than eight in 10 Americans agree that respect, family, trustworthiness and freedom are important values to them, and at least three-quarters say the same about kindness, health, integrity, happiness and knowledge.
However, when asked to identify which values are the most important, family emerges as the clear winner, with 49% identifying it as one of their three top values, personally. Freedom, health, integrity and faith rank next, chosen by between 26% and 30% of U.S. adults as one of their top three values.
Beauty, wealth, adventure, achievement and innovation are among the values least likely to be chosen as important, all by fewer than four in 10 U.S. adults. All except wealth also rank near the bottom of the list of most important values.
These results are based on the Gallup-Aspen Ideas American Values Index survey, conducted April 2-15 by web with more than 2,000 U.S. adults who are members of Gallup’s probability-based panel.
Survey respondents were presented with a list of 23 values and asked to choose all that they consider important to them. Of the values they identified as important, respondents were then asked to select up to three that they regard as the most important.
The rankings of “important” and “the most important” values are generally similar. However, there are some departures:
- Respect and kindness rank among the top five values that Americans list as being important, but both rank outside of the top five most important values by statistically significant margins.
- Half of Americans identify faith as an important value to them, placing it toward the bottom of the importance list. However, more than half of those who say it is important — equivalent to 26% of all U.S. adults — place it among the most important values to them. As a result, faith ranks near the top of the list of most important values.
- Of the relatively small proportion of Americans saying wealth (28%) is an important value to them, one in four (equal to 7% of all U.S. adults) say it is among the most important values, a much higher proportion than for values like beauty, adventure and achievement that also rank low in importance.
Family Is the Most Important Value for Nearly All Major Subgroups
Given family’s relative dominance as the most important value among Americans, it follows that it ranks at the top for nearly every subgroup. The most notable exception is for deeply religious Americans (those who attend services weekly), among whom 76% rank faith as one of their three most important values. This exceeds the 65% among this group who choose family. Also, for Americans with a postgraduate education, integrity (39%) essentially ties with family (37%) in terms of their most important values.
Certain subgroups are more likely to rank family as their most important value, including Republicans, senior citizens, those with a high school education or less, married adults, and women.
Republicans, independents and Democrats differ most in the extent to which they identify faith as one of the most important values to them. Nearly half of Republicans (48%) say faith is among their most important values, compared with 21% of independents and 11% of Democrats.
More Republicans than Democrats and independents say freedom is a top value for them, while more Democrats and independents than Republicans say the same about respect and kindness.
Older Americans, those aged 65 and older, are more likely than adults younger than 65 to select freedom as one of their most important values. Four in 10 adults aged 65 and older prioritize freedom among their top values, compared with about 30% of those between the ages of 30 and 64 and just 20% of those under age 30.
Faith and health are valued more by those aged 50 and older than by younger adults.
The 39% of Americans with a postgraduate education rating integrity as one of their most important values is at least 10 percentage points higher than for any other education subgroup, and it is more than twice the percentage among those with a high school education or less. Postgraduates also put a higher priority on kindness than people in other education subgroups.
Bottom Line
Americans broadly agree on the importance of values that generally matter in life — but, beyond family, there is far less consensus about what matters most. The five that rise to the top when Americans are asked to choose their top values cast a different light on people’s priorities.
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