Health Adversity and Value Change

Life span theories of human development assert that people prioritize emotional values over informational values when they believe their time is limited. This process unfolds naturally as people age but may be accelerated by life-threatening events. We tested whether the experience of serious health...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSocial psychological & personality science Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 248 - 257
Main Authors Bleidorn, Wiebke, Schwaba, Ted, Hopwood, Christopher J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2021
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Adversity
Health problems
Human development
Life threatening
Propensity
Value orientations
Wisdom
health
longitudinal methodology
life span
values
personality development
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Summary:Life span theories of human development assert that people prioritize emotional values over informational values when they believe their time is limited. This process unfolds naturally as people age but may be accelerated by life-threatening events. We tested whether the experience of serious health adversity leads to changes in value orientation. Using 10 annual waves of data from a nationally representative sample, we charted the course of value change in 247 individuals who experienced serious health adversity in comparison to a propensity score–matched group of 714 healthy individuals. Although there were no differences in values related to friendship and love for those with and without health adversity, we found that the importance of social recognition declined in the face of health problems and continued to recede thereafter. This finding is consistent with folk wisdom about value changes in the face of mortality.
ISSN:1948-5506
1948-5514
DOI:10.1177/1948550620901980