Spiral Dynamics Integral –

Value Systems
Spiral Dynamics Integral gives insight in the various value systems (or values,
motives, and/or colors) of people. Value systems reflect the preferences in different
worldviews, assumptions and intrinsic motives in people and in organizations. They
differ per person and are determined by a person’s neurological “wiring’ (talents
and upbringing) and the perception of their life conditions. Intrinsic motives
strongly determine our perception, our thoughts, our emotions, our actions and
our avoidance mechanisms. Value system show how people think and why we do
as we do.

Value systems should not be confused with behavior. People’s behavior is visible in
the outside world, and value systems are the invisible driving forces behind this
behavior. The values that we deem important (valuable) as a human being largely
determine our behavior. We can see the value set that we have (and which we see
as the truth) in coherence with a system, a paradigm. A paradigm is a coherent
system of values, which form a framework from which the ‘reality’ is analyzed and
approached.
The original work by Clare Graves, Don Beck and Christopher Cowan defines 8
unique value systems, which are all color-coded. You can find a graphical
representation of the 8 value systems below.  Please click on the color of the value
system in the main menu to read more about each value system.  You can find
some general characteristics about value systems below the image.