Systematic literature review–unpacking values. How values change over time and link with personality traits and behaviours

The systematic literature review is based on a critical need in the area of values, where there are many uncertainties around universal definitions and drivers of values and traits. The study evaluated definitions, categories, drivers and the interdependence between values and personality traits and behaviours. Over 5,873 studies over a 70-year period were analysed to identify a relevant sample of 55 papers for this study. This review found that values and traits have synchronous patterns of association, indicating common underlying causes that drive them both, with the direction of causality from personality traits to learned values. Further, this review concludes values change over time and these changes are dependent on multiple factors including age, major life transitions, and accessibility of values, education, communication, general prevailing social and economic conditions, as well as individual and cultural openness to change tendencies.