Research themes
The Centre for Human and Cultural Values brings together some of the world’s leading academics to understand and apply personal and cultural values theory to address important social issues.
The Centre currently focuses on six main research themes:
Personal & Cultural Values
Prosocial Behaviour
Children’s Values
Consumer Behaviour
Societal Issues
The Workplace
Personal & Cultural Values
The Centre brings together a strong group of international researchers currently working on new directions in the theory and measurement of personal and cultural values.
Values have been of interest to scholars for over a century, yet there are still important developments to be made in our understanding of values, including (1) the range and nature of values, (2) how values can be used to characterise societies, groups, and individuals, (3) how values change over time and across age and life stage, and (4) how best to measure these phenomena at different levels.
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
University of Haifa, Israel
University of Münster, Germany
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Poland
University of Western Australia
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Victoria University of Wellington
University of Essex, UK
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
University of Bath, UK
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Poland
University of Western Australia
University of Bath, UK
Children’s Values
Recent research has shown that children as young as 4 years old hold values systems that show similar trade-offs to those of adults.
The Centre brings together a strong group of researchers interested in (1) how values develop during childhood and adolescence, (2) how values should be measured in an age appropriate manner, and (3) how values relate to social, academic and health issues.
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
University of Haifa, Israel
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Poland
University of Western Australia
Tel Aviv University, Israel
University of Westminster, UK
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
University of Western Australia
University of Basel
University of Western Australia
Societal Issues
Values are central to public discourse today. The Centre’s interdisciplinary team of researchers are interested in how values guide, justify, and explain beliefs, attitudes, norms, opinions, and actions.
Researchers are currently investigating immigration and migration, diversity and equality, environmental conservation, ageing, and health issues such as vaccination. These are examined at the individual, group and societal level across a wide range of cultures.
University of Haifa, Israel
University of Canberra
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Poland
University of Western Australia
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Victoria University of Wellington
University of Essex, UK
University of Western Australia
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
University of Western Australia
University of Bath, UK
Prosocial Behaviour
Values can tell us more about the ways in which individuals behave in a prosocial manner.
Researchers at the Centre are investigating the complex and interrelated ways that personal values impact charitable giving, volunteering, sustainable lifestyles, and interactions with animals and the environment.
University of Western Australia
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
University of Western Australia
Victoria University of Wellington
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
University of Western Australia
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
University of Western Australia
Consumer Behaviour
Values theory has been applied across many consumer decision-making contexts and among various product categories to better understand individual’s purchases of goods and services.
Centre researchers are examining the perceived value of products, consumer engagement with brands, social media communication, retirement planning, values-based appeals, and consumer materialism and frugality. They are also interested in how consumers attribute personality characteristics, including values to brands, charities and other non-human entities.
University of Western Australia
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
University of Western Australia
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The Workplace
Individuals take their personal values into the workplace. At the same time, the workplace and an individual’s colleagues may influence their values and attitudes.
Researchers within the Centre are examining the impact of values on self-employment, innovation and entrepreneurship, teams and identity, volunteering, cooperation, family businesses, and creativity within the workplace.
University of Western Australia
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Values reflect what is important in life.
They give meaning to the things we do. What we believe, what we like, what we do, and what we think about our own and other’s actions are all shaped by our values.
The Centre for Human and Cultural Values focuses on research and training in understanding and appreciation of the variety of human and cultural values and how they relate to big social issues in society.