This document discusses how values and frames shape public commitment to social issues. It covers how values work, why they matter, how they develop, and implications. Values are guiding principles that transcend situations and influence thought and action. Intrinsic values like social justice and well-being have benefits, while extrinsic values like wealth and image do not. Values develop through life experiences and can be engaged or changed. Framing issues in terms of certain values like consumerism can negatively impact support. Organizations seeking social change should consider how to strengthen intrinsic values and weaken extrinsic values through their own practices, messages, and structures.

1. Richard Hawkins
Director, PIRC
Common CauseA Guide to Values and Frames for Campaigners, Community Organisers, Civil
Servants, Fundraisers, Educators, Social Entrepreneurs, Activists, Funders,
Politicians, and Everyone in Between

2. 1. How values work
2. Why values matter
3. How values develop
4. Some implications

3. Report
2010
Approach
Network
2013
???

4. How do you widen, deepen &
maintain public commitment
to bigger-than-self issues?
Values help us answer
the big question:

5. 1. How values work
2. Why values matter
3. How values develop
4. Some implications

6. What are values?
The guiding principles of life
Transcend specific actions and situations
Abstract and rarely conscious
Serve as standards or criteria

7. There is an objective reality out
there, but we view it through the
spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes,
and values.”
David G. Myers
Psychologist
“

11. Schwartz 1992+
A spiritual life, A varied life, A world of beauty, A world at
peace, Accepting my portion in life, Ambition, An exciting
life, Authority, Broadmindedness, Capable, Choosing own
goals, Cleanliness, Creativity, Curiousity, Daring,
Detachment, Devout, Enjoying life, Equality , Family
security, Forgiving, Freedom, Health, Helpfulness,
Honesty, Honouring of parents and elders, Humble,
Independence, Influence, Inner harmony, Intelligence,
Loyalty, Mature love, Meaning in life, Moderation, National
security, Obedience, Pleasure, Politeness, Preserving my
public image, Protecting the environment, Reciprocation of
favours, Respect for tradition, Responsibility, Self-
discipline, Self-indulgence, Self-respect, Sense of
belonging, Social justice, Social order, Social power, Social
recognition, Success, True friendship, Unity with nature,

12. Exercise
What problems are we concerned
about?Now, imagine a society…

28. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3. The engagement effect
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

29. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3.The engagement effect
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

31. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3. The engagement effect
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

33. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3. The engagement effect
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

35. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3. The engagement effect
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

38. 1. Values are universal
2. Values aren’t characteristics
3. Values can be engaged
4. The see-saw effect
5. The bleed-over effect

41. Bleedover - Ecological Footprint
Sheldon, Nichols & Kasser (2011)
University students primed with identity

American

Extrinsic American

Intrinsic American

Asked to recommend ideal Ecological Footprint for
Americans in 5 years

11 items

42. Recommended footprints

43. Values
Are the guiding principles of life
Transcend specific actions and situations
Serve as standards or criteria
Are abstract and rarely conscious
Are related to each other
Can be engaged, with affects on other values

44. 1. How values work
2. Why values matter
3. How values develop
4. Some implications

46. Intrinsic values
Pro-social, pro-environmental & pro-well-
being
.
Greater empathy Sheldon & Kasser (1995); Myyry & Helkama
(2001)
Lower prejudice Ibid; Roets et al. (2006); Feather and McKee
(2008); Sagiv and Schwartz (1995); Sawyerr et al. (2005)
Greater cooperation & lower anti-social behaviour Sheldon et al.
(2000); Cohen (1996); Kasser & Ryan (1993), Gatersleben et
al (2008); Kasser (2005); Karp (1996); Schwartz (2010)
Greater environmental concern and action Schultz et al. (2005),
Sheldon and McGregor (2000); Gatersleben et al (2008);
Kasser (2005); Richins & Dawson (1992); Karp (1996); Stern
& Dietz (1996)
Greater well-being Kasser & Ryan (1993, 1996); Sheldon &
Kasser (1995); Richins & Dawson (1992); Schor (2004)

47. National values
Kasser (2011)
20 wealthy nations.
Citizens’ values for achievement, power, status, money vs.
loyalty, helpfulness, social justice, a world of beauty.
After controlling for GDP, a general pattern was evident
between values and:

CO2 emissions

Child well-being

Maternal leave

Advertising to children

49. Values
Are the guiding principles of life
Transcend specific actions and situations
Serve as standards or criteria
Are abstract and rarely conscious
Are related to each other
Can be engaged, with affects on other values
Influence what we think and what we do

50. 1. How values work
2. Why values matter
3. How values develop
4. Some implications

51. Repeated engagement leads to
stronger values.

53. Influences on values
From Schwartz, Kasser, and others…
.
FAMILY & PEERS Studies across three generations of families show
there are significant similarities, but there are generational shifts.
EDUCATION More education generally promotes openness of
thinking, creativity, and independence, i.e., self-direction values.
However, pursuing law & business degrees increases extrinsic
values.
CAREER Employees whose job conditions require self-directed work
show increases in self-direction values 10 years later.
REFLECTION Reflecting on values, and mindfulness, can change our
values.
THREAT & FEAR Shifts people towards extrinsic values.
POLICY FEEDBACK Policies and institutions change our perceptions of
what is possible, desirable and normal. They impact on values!

54. It isn’t that I set out on economic
policies; it’s that I set out really to
change the approach, and changing the
economics is the means of changing
that approach. If you change the
approach you really are after the heart
and soul of the nation. Economics are the
method; the object is to change the heart and
soul.”
Margaret Thatcher,
Sunday Times, 1981
“

55. values
Frames
How we understand the world

56. Consumer vs. Citizen
Bauer et. al. (2012)
People framed as Consumers or Citizens/Individuals.
Consumer cue led to:

Stronger association with extrinsic values

Increased competitiveness and selfishness in water
management scenario

Lower levels of trust in other participants
Consumer cues (materialistic objects or words) also:

Decreased pro-social behaviours

Increased materialistic values and increased feelings of
anxiety

57. Consumer vs. Citizen
Incidence of terms in The Times, 1950-2006
0
1000
2000
3000
4000

58. FRAMES
Reinforced through repeated engagement,
much like values.
Shape thinking and responses, not just
how we think the world is, but how we
think it ought to be.

59. Values
Are the guiding principles of life
Transcend specific actions and situations
Serve as standards or criteria
Are abstract and rarely conscious
Are related to each other
Can be engaged, with affects on other values
Influence what we think and do
Are shaped by lived experience / society

60. Questions about the research
before a break!

61. 1. How values work
2. Why values matter
3. How values develop
4. Some implications

62. STRENGTHEN
INTRINSIC
VALUES
WEAKEN
EXTRINSIC
VALUES

63. STRENGTHEN
INTRINSIC
VALUES
WEAKEN
EXTRINSIC
VALUES
How?

64. Spaces for change
What we call for

65. Questions
What values and frames will the institutions,
policies and practices we advocate promote?
What are the structures, institutions and
policies that shape our society’s values?
How are we working to change those?

66. VALUES
CONNECT
ISSUES

67. Value
impact
Public
support
X-party
support
S&E
benefit
Common
Causes

68. Advertising
Time poverty
Inequality
Media reform
Natural childhood
Alternatives to GDP
Practices / Campaigns / Policies

69. Spaces for change
How we engage with others
What we call for

70. Questions
Do the messages and experiences we create
embody values that are likely to motivate
lasting concern about the issues we work on?
i.e. What values and frames are we promoting
in our work?
And what values are embedded in the ways we
engage with others?

72. Data on voluntary income suggests
that increasing incomes have been
gained by changing the nature of the
engagement, by turning members into
supporters, and setting them at arms-
length.
In the social movement literature,
today’s NGOs are described as ‘protest
businesses’, and their model of public
engagement is called ‘cheap
participation’ (characterised by low
barriers to entry, engagement and exit
– all of which things generate high
churn).

73. Shifting the balance of NGO public
engagement activities away from
‘transactions’ towards transformations;
hence less emphasis on ‘£5 buys...’
appeals and more on providing
supporters with opportunities to engage,
or develop their own approaches (to e.g.
fundraising)
In campaigns, easy actions (including
online petitions) should only be used as
part of a well defined engagement
strategy that puts a premium on
providing deeper experiences, and
opportunities to progress along a
‘supporter journey’.
Models of communication should be
based on genuine dialogue, and provide
opportunities for supporters - and

74. Celebrities should be used with
extreme care in campaigns, given the
strong links between celebrity culture,
consumer culture and the values of
self-interest.
Charity shops should also try to
distance themselves from consumer
culture; they should return to their
roots by presenting themselves as
places for giving more
than buying, and emphasising their role
in closing up loops of consumption.
This agenda should also be pursued with
others beyond the development sector –
ideally including the government, whose
practices and policies are instrumental in
determining the dominant values and
frames in society.

76. Practices
Do a values & frames audit
Find new ways of speaking to old values ( inc.
stories)
Try door-stepping
Use action learning sets (ALSs)
Prioritise experience over message (inc.
reflection on values)
Choose your places wisely! Meet people
intrinsically…
Question the use of celebrity / corporate
partnerships
Foster participation & relationships - depth &
values.
Understand the difference between giving,

77. Spaces for change
How we organise ourselves
How we engage with others
What we call for

78. Questions
What do we value?
Do the groups and organisations we are a part
of embody the values underpinning our own
work?
What values are strengthened by the ways we
interact with each other?
What values are we working by?

79. Practices
Improve meeting process – e.g. by using the Art
of Hosting
Go flat or flatter
Encourage flexible working time
Have staff representation at board meetings
(transparency)
Try new measurements
Ensure HR & inductions are about skills and
values
Empower members and supporters e.g 38
Degrees tools
Integrate values into your strategy & theory of
change
Remember that means = ends

80. Spaces for change
How we organise ourselves
How we engage with others
What we call for

81. In conclusion
Values impact on the issues we care about.
Intrinsic values are socially & environmentally
beneficial.
Values are shaped by our lived experience.
We can, and should, collectively shape our society to
solve the issues we care about.

82. Thanks.
valuesandframes.org
rich@pirc.info
tcrompton@wwf.org.uk

83. Recommended reading
Effective Change Strategies
for the Great Transition
Smart CSOs
Finding Frames
Darnton & Kirk
2009 Reith Lectures
Michael Sandell
Thick Problems, Thin Solutions
Michael Edwards
Living Values
Community Works
21st Century Enlightenment
RSA
Ill Fares the Land
Tony Judt