Portrait Values Questionnaire

Click here to learn more about the Portrait Values Questionnaire and how to use it.

By Carepatron Team on Aug 2, 2025.

Fact Checked by Ericka Pingol.

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What is a Portrait Values Questionnaire?

The Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) is a psychological assessment tool designed to measure individual values based on Shalom Schwartz's theory of universal human values. It evaluates how individuals prioritize ten core values(Schwartz, 2012):

Universalism: Understanding and protecting the welfare of humanity and nature.
Benevolence: Enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent contact.
Tradition: Accepting beliefs and practices rooted in cultural or religious heritage.
Conformity: Restricting actions or impulses that could harm others or violate social norms.
Security: Promoting safety, harmony, and stability for oneself, others, and society.
Power: Valuing status, prestige, and control over resources and others.
Achievement: Demonstrating success and competence according to societal standards.
Hedonism: Seeking pleasure and gratification of personal desires.
Stimulation: Pursuing excitement, novelty, and a stimulating life.
Self-Direction: Emphasizing independence and freedom to explore and define one’s path.

Schwartz initially created the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) to measure these values. However, the SVS faced criticism due to its reliance on abstract concepts, which required respondents to interpret complex ideas. To address this limitation, Schwartz developed the Portrait Values Questionnaire, which focuses on cross-cultural applicability and implicit value measurement.

The PVQ consists of 40 items, each reflecting a specific value through relatable descriptions. Participants rate how similar they feel to the described person, using phrases like "lives an exciting life," "treats everyone equally," or "behaves properly." This approach minimizes the need for abstract reasoning and reduces response bias. There is also a 21-item modified version, developed to measure participants' values, which inferred from their self-reports of how similar they were to individuals described in portraits (Sandy et al., 2017).

The PVQ organizes these ten values into four higher-order value categories that guide individual decision-making:

Self-transcendence: Universalism and Benevolence.
Self-enhancement: Achievement and Power.
Openness to change: Hedonism, Self-Direction, and Stimulation.
Conservation: Conformity, Tradition, and Security.

Portrait Values Questionnaire Template

Portrait Values Questionnaire PDF Template

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How to use the Portrait Values Questionnaire?

Using the PVQ is a simple and straightforward process. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Step 1: Download the template

Access the Portrait Values Questionnaire template by clicking "Use template", allowing you to edit the resource via the Carepatron app. For a PDF copy, choose "Download."

Step 2: Familiarize yourself with the template

The template is designed to guide you through the Portrait Values Questionnaire. It includes space for essential patient information, such as name and date of birth. The template follows the standard PVQ questionnaire, composed of 40 items, each relating to one of the four higher order values.

Step 3: Ask the patient to complete

Give the template to the patient to complete. Ensure that they fill out their personal details. Before patient completion, emphasize that there is no right or wrong answer; rather, it is about understanding their authentic answers. Explain that it is crucial to provide honest answers in order to attain an accurate result. Be sure to guide the individual through the template, helping them with questions if necessary whilst ensuring not to suggest any answers.

Step 4: Score their answers

Calculate the individual's score by following the instructions below.

Scoring and interpretation

Scoring the PVQ is a straightforward and efficient process that can be used for educational, therapeutic, and research use. Each item is scored on 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1, "not at all like me" to 6, "very much like me"

Ensure that all questions have been answered to the best of the individuals' ability to get the most accurate results.

The items representing each of the 10 values is represented below (Schwartz, 2021):

Universalism; 3, 8, 19, 23, 29, 40
Benevolence; 12, 18, 27, 33
Tradition; 9, 20, 25, 38
Conformity; 7, 16, 28, 36
Security; 5, 14, 21, 31, 35
Power; 2, 17, 39
Achievement; 4, 13, 24, 32
Hedonism; 10, 26, 37
Stimulation; 6, 15, 30
Self-direction; 1, 11, 22, 34

The score for each value is the mean of the raw ratings given to the items listed for that value. The overall mean score is calculated by calculating the mean of all 40-items.

It is also important to adjust for response bias, this is calculated by subtracting the overall mean score from the value mean.

To score for the four higher order values, combine the means for the following values:

Self-transcendence: Universalism and benevolence.
Self -enhancement: Achievement and power.
Openness to change: Hedonism, Self-direction and stimulation.
Conservative: Conformity, tradition and security.

Positive scores show values that are more important to the participant relative to their average response, negative scores, are values that are less important to the participant.

Next steps

After administering the PVQ, here are some next steps you can take:

Review and analyze responses

The patient's total score will be reviewed and interpreted as suggested above. The 10 values can be separately reviewed to identify patterns in specific area.

Discuss results with patient

Professionals may open a sensitive and nonjudgmental conversation to discuss the results from the PVQ. The professional will try to get a well-rounded understanding of the patient, considering the broader social determinants of the person.

References

Sandy, C. J., Gosling, S. D., Schwartz, S. H., & Koelkebeck, T. (2017). 21-Item Portrait Values Questionnaire--Modified Version (PVQ-21) [Database record]. APA PsycTests.

https://doi.org/10.1037/t64425-000

Schwartz, S. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Psychology and Culture Article, 2(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116

Commonly asked questions

The PVQ helps researchers, organizations, and individuals understand:

Personal value systems.
Cultural differences in values.
The impact of values on behavior, attitudes, and decision-making.

Unlike traditional surveys, the PVQ is indirect. Instead of asking respondents to evaluate abstract values directly (e.g., "How important is tradition to you?"), it presents relatable descriptions of behaviors and goals to elicit more instinctive responses.

The PVQ is based on Schwartz's Theory of Basic Human Values, which identifies ten universal value types (e.g., self-direction, benevolence, tradition) grouped into four broader categories: openness to change, self-enhancement, conservation, and self-transcendence.