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Let There Be True Will

What Are Your Core Values? (Find Out With This Quiz!)

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Doing the True Will requires self-knowledge. In particular, we need to be aware of our core values in life in order to make good decisions and do what we truly want to do. So, do you know what your deepest personal values are and how you prioritize them? If you are uncertain, you can take the following quiz.

Identify Your Core Values Now!

By answering 21 simple questions

core values
How important is power (wealth, influence, social status) to you?

Of course, this test covered only a few out of hundreds of different value dimensions, but based on your results, you can now see whether you are

  • more open to change (freedom, hedonism, stimulation) vs. more conservative (security, tradition, conformity),
  • more focused on self-improvement (achievement, power) vs. more focused on self-transcendence (benevolence, universalism),
  • more focused on yourself (freedom, hedonism, stimulation, achievement, power) vs. more focused on others/society (security, tradition, conformity, benevolence, universalism),
  • more self-expansive and anxiety-free (freedom, hedonism, stimulation, benevolence, universalism) vs. more self-protective and anxiety-controlling (power, security, tradition, conformity).

To be fully transparent here, my personal value hierarchy looks like this:

  1. Freedom (100%). Above all, I want to be free in my thinking and doing: ad libertatem naturae!
  2. Achievement (80%). The path of skill development toward mastery is what I live for.
  3. Hedonism (70%). Thinking, working, training, non-doing, and non-thinking are my main sources of pleasure.
  4. Benevolence (70%). I like to be kind to the people around me.
  5. Stimulation (60%). New exciting challenges are less important to me than my everyday pleasures.
  6. Power (50%). I value wealth, influence, and social status about as much as universal well-being.
  7. Universalism (50%). I care less about strangers and the environment than about myself and close others.
  8. Tradition (30%). I’m pretty indifferent to cultural customs.
  9. Security (30%). I see safety and security as dangerous to my freedom and my desire for stimulation.
  10. Conformity (20%). I detest obedience and I have no desire to fit in with any group.

Now tell me in the comments below: How does your value hierarchy look like? Did your quiz results surprise you?

For a more comprehensive assessment of your personal values, I recommend you check out Discover Your Values by my friend Jacob Morris in collaboration with renowned psychologist S. H. Schwartz.

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Comments

  1. Apparently, these are my quiz results. I tried to be as honest as possible even if I didn’t always like the answer.
    Achievement-60%
    Benevolence-70%
    Conformity-60%
    Freedom-70%
    Hedonism-90%
    Power-70%
    Security-60%
    Stimulation-60%
    Tradition-60%
    Universalism-60%
    I have found out more about myself with this quiz so thanks! I do think that some of these percentage ratings are not correct, e.g. I clicked “sometimes I participate in customs, traditions etc.” and I get a 60% rating, although I’d rate myself around 40%, because I don’t actively practice them most of the time (only go to church sometimes to help out because nobody else will). I definetely want to get my Achievement percentage up.
    Nice to see an article where readers can take part in and find out more about themselves.
    Have a nice day!
    Legion

    Reply

  2. Hi Dom,

    these are my results and yeah the hedonism is strong with me!

    Achievement40%
    Benevolence60%
    Conformity50%
    Freedom90%
    Hedonism100%
    Power50%
    Security60%
    Stimulation50%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism10%

    You did a great job on creating this quiz, keep on rolling my friend.

    Reply

  3. Achievement40%
    Benevolence40%
    Conformity0%
    Freedom100%
    Hedonism0%
    Power10%
    Security0%
    Stimulation20%
    Tradition20%
    Universalism50%
    [Gender]50%

    Reply

  4. Achievement70%
    Benevolence60%
    Conformity50%
    Freedom80%
    Hedonism90%
    Power30%
    Security60%
    Stimulation40%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism70%
    [Gender]50%

    Thanks for the quiz.

    Reply

  5. I really enjoyed the quiz it what I needed to help me finish the course I was taking on leader ship one my core value report we had to write a summary ten core value with foot notes and scripture the co-inside with each one, my thanks to who ever this may concern, I must say this has really helped in getting my lesson in on time. and may God forever bless you.

    Reply

  6. Apologies in advance, I’ve only jut come across your site, so I haven’t felt the tone of the site out, but I think for sake of clarity clarity, I’d like to provide examples of a some terms in this quiz where some definitions (yours would be fine) would help me be more certain of answering the questions in such a way as to better reflect what it is I might be.

    Equality: Of what? Outcome (genocidal)? Opportunity (tyrannical)? Before the Law (Best option)?
    What’s your definition of anarchist? Rothbardian/Hoppean? Some dickhead throwing bins through a Starbucks window?

    Question 18 is interesting because I remember reading that often the most dominant thing to be in any given situation is indomitable. I’d rather be the immovable object than the unstoppable force because given my voluntaryist leanings, I don’t want to force anyone to do anything.

    Achievement60%
    Benevolence50%
    Conformity60%
    Freedom70%
    Hedonism50%
    Power50%
    Security60%
    Stimulation50%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism50%
    [Gender]50%

    Reply

    • Hey Michael, thank you for your insightful comment!

      I kept the word ‘equality’ in the question “Do you care about tolerance, equality, and the welfare of humanity?” unspecified in order to trigger subjectively biased associations with universal welfare. For example, socialists, libertarians, and conservatives may have different opinions about what kind of equality (legal, political, economic, social, etc.) is most effective, but the underlying personal concern for universal well-being, contrasted with selective benevolence, is orthogonal to what one’s definition of equality entails.

      The notion of ‘anarchist’ used in one of the answer options was based on a traditional form of individualist anarchism, but I agree that this may be misleading for people familiar with the philosophy of anarchism, especially today where theories like anarcho-capitalism are becoming increasingly popular. I have now removed the word ‘anarchist’ and rephrased that answer option.

      Reply

  7. This is the stupidest quiz ever. You can’t judge the core values of someone with few obscure questions. Total waste of time!!

    Reply

    • Depends on what you expect from a quiz, I guess. What exactly makes it so stupid? The amount of questions, their phrasing, a bias in the answer options, the choice of value categories, the underlying algorithm, or everything together?

      I could concede that the abstract comparison of different values can be stupid insofar as reflecting on values outside of a specific context might make for bad philosophizing that may be fruitless (if it leads to nothing useful) or counterproductive (if it leads to people getting dogmatically invested in abstract principles). But it’s up to you what you do with your results.

      Reply

    • If you know you can’t judge core values, why did you take the quiz? In fact, why would you be on this site if you see no value? Perhaps allow those who see value to use it as an interesting element in self exploration. I hope any person thoughtful enough to review the quiz or the site would be thoughtful enough to continue to learn from more than one resource and as themselves what they find or believe to be true. I thought it was a very generous offer by Dom to tally our results and offer some insights from the research.

      Reply

  8. My Results:

    1 Freedom 90%
    2 Benevolence 80%
    3 Universalism 80%
    4 Achievement 70%
    5 Hedonism 70%
    6 Security 60%
    7 Conformity 50%
    8 Stimulation 50%
    9 Tradition 40%
    10 Power 20%

    I am trying to decide on the next course of action, next direction of life; professionally. And I hope to get a better understanding of my core values which may be helpful in that endeavour.

    Reply

  9. This is a good description of what drives me! 😁😁. Very helpful as I try to live a more authentic life which reflects the real me and nobody else’s idea of what I should be. 😁

    Reply

      • I found the test interesting and offers an effective tool for self awareness. I believe it reflects me quite accurately. My one question is what is the gender % I a female wAs 100%. And my male partner was 50%. I’m curious as to the meaning because I was abused and most of my life I identified with my masculine self.

        Reply

        • Hey Deb, “[Gender]…100%” means that you entered Female as your gender, whereas 50% would mean that you entered Male. There’s no deeper meaning to this. If you want, you can think of it as the X percentage of your chromosomes: most women have XX (= 100%, homogamety), most men have XY (= 50%, heterogamety).

          Reply

  10. Achievement80%
    Benevolence90%
    Conformity70%
    Freedom80%
    Hedonism70%
    Power30%
    Security80%
    Stimulation60%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism50%
    [Gender]100%

    This was interesting, I was expecting a rating based on the headings of the quiz. But, maybe I glazed over all the instructions?

    Thanks for the quiz didn’t realise I was so achievement focused but as an accountant with a young family who has just moved house this all sort of makes sense.

    Reply

  11. My test results:
    Benevolence- 100%
    Security- 90%
    Freedom- 90%
    Achievement- 80%
    Universalism- 80%
    Conformity- 50%
    Tradition- 40%
    Power- 40%
    Stimulation- 20%
    Hendonism- 10%

    Not sure how these percentages make me feel.

    Reply

  12. CATEGORIES
    Achievement60%
    Benevolence80%
    Conformity80%
    Freedom70%
    Hedonism80%
    Power20%
    Security80%
    Stimulation70%
    Tradition70%
    Universalism80%
    [Gender]100%

    Reply

  13. Thanks for creating this quiz! I was looking for something quick and easy but thought-provoking. My results surprised me:

    1) Benevolence – 90%
    2) Hedonism – 90% interesting, guess I am a pleasure seeker
    3) Universalism – 80% I don’t see myself the way you described this but I can see this
    4) Security – 80%
    5) Conformity – 80%

    Reply

  14. Hello Dom,

    Thanks for the excellent yet simple tool Question: Have you accumulated enough data for us to compare our results against, say, the average from our own country?

    Regards,

    Rob

    Reply

  15. Achievement80%
    Benevolence60%
    Conformity0%
    Freedom90%
    Hedonism70%
    Power20%
    Security70%
    Stimulation30%
    Tradition20%
    Universalism40%
    [Gender]50
    Those are my scores I do not know what that tells me about myself

    Reply

  16. Achievement100%
    Benevolence90%
    Conformity50%
    Freedom90%
    Hedonism90%
    Power60%
    Security100%
    Stimulation90%
    Tradition70%
    Universalism80%
    [Gender]50

    Thanks for helping me know my core values 🙂

    Reply

  18. Thanks for this. I was looking for a quick quiz online to help me articulate my most important values. This tool was perfect, thank you. I knew universalism would be up there, but it’s helpful to remember I’m as hedonistic as I am benevolent.
    Achievement90%
    Benevolence80%
    Conformity50%
    Freedom80%
    Hedonism90%
    Power20%
    Security70%
    Stimulation80%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism100%

    Reply

    • Achievement- 90%
      Benevolence- 30%
      Conformity- 80%
      Freedom-70%
      Hedonism- 50%
      Power- 50%
      Security-70%
      Stimulation- 80%
      Tradition- 60%
      Universalism- 50%

      Well, I guess I learned I’m a pretty selfish person.

      Reply

  19. Achievement %80
    Benevolence 30%
    Conformity 0%
    Freedom 90%
    Hedonism 50%
    Power 20%
    Security 10%
    Stimulation 50%
    Tradition 0%
    Universalism 40%
    [Gender] 50%

    Reply

  20. Achievement 90%
    Benevolence 30%
    Conformity 70%
    Freedom 80%
    Hedonism 30%
    Power 70%
    Security 50%
    Stimulation 100%
    Tradition 90%
    Universalism 50%
    [Gender] 50%

    Waiting for your response

    Reply

  21. Here’s mine:
    CATEGORIES
    Achievement 40%
    Benevolence 80%
    Conformity 20%
    Freedom 90%
    Hedonism 90%
    Power 50%
    Security 70%
    Stimulation 50%
    Tradition 10%
    Universalism 70%

    BTW, what’s with gender

    Reply

  22. Achievement 100%
    Freedom 100%
    Stimulation 100%
    Benevolence 90%
    Security 90%
    Hedonism 80%
    Conformity 50%
    Universalism 40%
    Tradition 30%
    Power 30%

    Reply

  23. I took the quiz, and I felt it a pretty good assessment of my values, though I think it was skewed a bit towards younger people whose lives haven’t been significantly modified by being responsible for children. My essential self remains, but, as Marx said, having children has left me to hostages to other values.

    Freedom 100%
    Security 100%
    Achievement 70%
    Stimulation 70%
    Benevolence 50%
    Universalism 40%
    Tradition 30%
    Conformity 20%
    Power 20%
    Hedonism 20%

    BTW, my son took the quiz, and was pretty offended by only getting 50% on gender while I got 100% :-).

    Reply

  24. Freedom 100%
    Achievement 80%
    Stimulation 80%
    Hedonism 70%
    Power 50%
    Security 50%
    Conformity 50%
    Tradition 40%
    Universalism 40%
    Benevolence 30%

    Good job on the quiz, I have to say you got my values down fairly accurately for twenty (one… kinda) questions, though I’d like to think my benevolence would be a little higher. But hey, perhaps that just merged into conformity; which looks a tad high up there. I’d buy it.

    I’m curious what the average is out of everybody who’s taken your test.

    Reply

    • Hey Jeff, I’m glad to read that. However, since this quiz is not a randomized, controlled study, it would be scientifically misguided for me to analyze the data.

      Reply

  25. Achievement 70%
    Benevolence 90%
    Conformity 70%
    Freedom 90%
    Hedonism 70%
    Power 30%
    Security 100%
    Stimulation 80%
    Tradition 40%
    Universalism 80%

    Reply

  26. I’m having problems in my relationships, and I took the quiz as a self exploration tool to help me identify what’s important to me, so I can articulate it to others. I appreciate the brevity of the quiz–much better than trying to pick things out 200+ word lists (brain overload). My results:

    Achievement 70%
    Benevolence 80%
    Conformity 30%
    Freedom 100%
    Hedonism 100%
    Power 60%
    Security 50%
    Stimulation 80%
    Tradition 20%
    Universalism 90%
    [Gender] 100%

    I’m not surprised that freedom was 100% for me, as this is a key issue for me in my marriage. Thank you for the insight.

    You gave a brief description of the categories in reference to your results, but is there anywhere that gives more details about the categories?

    Reply

    • Hey Lydia, I discuss many of these categories in greater depth in various blog posts. What values in particular would you want to read more about?

      Reply

  27. These are my results;
    Achievement 90%
    Benevolence 50%
    Conformity 50%
    Freedom 30%
    Hedonism 50%
    Power 60%
    Security 70%
    Stimulation 50%
    Tradition 20%
    Universalism 70%

    Many thanks Dom,I was really expectant of this quiz in discovering myself because I was worried I had no sense of direction just doing things randomly so I took this step of self exploration,although the results aims at pointing my area of focus not who I really am and I don’t feel all positive about it
    I would appreciate if there be explanation as to how I can channel these results towards further self discovery/knowledge

    Thanks

    Reply

  28. Achievement 70%
    Benevolence 100%
    Conformity 30%
    Freedom 40%
    Hedonism 90%
    Power 60%
    Security 90%
    Stimulation 60%
    Tradition 40%
    Universalism 50%
    [Gender] 50%

    Reply

  29. How is this possible? Did I misunderstand your quiz?

    Achievement90%
    Benevolence90%
    Conformity90%
    Freedom100%
    Hedonism90%
    Power50%
    Security100%
    Stimulation40%
    Tradition100%
    Universalism90%
    [Gender]100%

    Reply

  30. Hmm… Here’s mine:

    Achievement80%
    Benevolence60%
    Conformity40%
    Freedom10%
    Hedonism40%
    Power30%
    Security90%
    Stimulation50%
    Tradition100%
    Universalism40%
    [Gender]50%

    Reply

  31. Here are my results:

    Achievement 70%
    Benevolence 70%
    Conformity 40%
    Freedom 100%
    Hedonism 100%
    Power 60%
    Security 80%
    Stimulation 80%
    Tradition 40%
    Universalism 90%

    The results make sense. I was a little surprised I got 40% in conformity.

    Reply

  32. My results were as follows:
    Achievement60%
    Benevolence90%
    Conformity60%
    Freedom70%
    Hedonism70%
    Power30%
    Security80%
    Stimulation80%
    Tradition40%
    Universalism70%
    [Gender]50%
    I think it shows I’m well balanced in most things – at 61 I feel my values are very different from when I was say 31.

    Reply

  34. Achievement 60%
    Benevolence 60%
    Conformity 50%
    Freedom 70%
    Hedonism 70%
    Power 10%
    Security 60%
    Stimulation 60%
    Tradition 40%
    Universalism 70%
    [Gender] 50%

    This result is full of contradiction
    Hedonism (70%). Thinking, working, training, non-doing, and non-thinking are my main sources of pleasure

    Is Power 10% or 50%?
    Power (50%). I value wealth, influence, and social status about as much as universal well-being.

    Reply

  35. Hey Dom,
    here are my results

    Achievement
    80%
    Benevolence
    50%
    Conformity
    40%
    Freedom
    80%
    Hedonism
    80%
    Power
    100%
    Security
    50%
    Stimulation
    50%
    Tradition
    90%
    Universalism
    70%
    [Gender]
    50%

    Reply

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