Critical evaluation of allport-vernon classification of values?

The Allport-Vernon Study of Values (1931) categorizes values into six major types as follows:

1. Theoretical: Interest in the discovery of truth through reasoning and systematic thinking.

2. Economic: Interest in usefulness and practicality, including the accumulation of wealth.

3. Aesthetic: Interest in beauty, form and artistic harmony.

4. Social: Interest in people and human relationships.

5. Political: Interest in gaining power and influencing other people.

6. Religious: Interest in unity and understanding the cosmos as a whole.

Scale

Description of value

Typical Occupation

Social

Helping people

Social work

Theoretical

search for truth

Professor

Economic

Pragmatic, applied

Business

Aesthetic

Artistic values

Artist

Political

Power & influence

Politics

Religious

Religion, harmony

Clergy

People place different importance to the above value types. This is important from the point of view of understanding the behavior of people. People in different occupations have different value systems which has led organizations to improve the values-job fit in order to increase employee performance and satisfaction. The Allport-Vernon Study of Values, however, has one possible weakness. They measure the relative importance of these values to the individual, rather than the "absolute" importance of each value. A high preference for certain values must always be at the expense of the other values.