Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Carilyn Ellis, PsyD

Second Advisor

Ryan Thompson, PsyD

Third Advisor

Celeste Jones, PsyD

Abstract

Values are central to the ways that humans evaluate the world and make decisions, and they play an important role in individual psychological functioning and well-being. Although human values are frequently used in psycho-therapeutic interventions in clinical practice, the precise nature of their relationship to psychopathology is unclear. This research explored the relationship between human values and psychopathology using the Schwartz basic theory of human values and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–3. Participants were recruited from a community mental health clinic. Data were analyzed to determine relationships between value priorities and clinical scales.

The study hypothesized positive associations between self-enhancement values and emotional dysfunction, and negative associations between self-transcendent values and emotional dysfunction. Additionally, it anticipated positive associations between openness to change values and behavioral dysfunction and negative association between conservation values and behavioral dysfunction.

Regression analyses were used to determine if select value dimensions have predictive potential in regard to pathological traits as measured by the clinical assessments. The power of this study was hampered by a small sample size; however, it still provided some relevant observations. Although reliability of the observed results varied, the direction of correlations largely aligned with the hypotheses. Overall, there was stronger evidence of meaningful relationships between openness to change and behavioral dysfunction, while there was not meaningful evidence that self-enhancement is associated with emotional dysfunction.

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