Values and Characteristics

I spent most of my twenties trying to figure out who I was supposed to be at work. Everyone kept giving me advice about “finding myself”—but I was confused about what that even meant. Was I supposed to find my personality type? My values? Both?

I’ve heard the same thing from dozens of people I’ve worked with: “I just want to be myself at work.” But what does that mean?

Are you talking about your natural tendencies—the fact that you’re introverted, analytical, or spontaneous? Or are you talking about what matters to you—creativity, helping others, autonomy?

The answer is both. And understanding the difference changes everything.

Values and characteristics are two distinct psychological constructs that shape who you are. Characteristics (also called personality traits) describe your typical patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving—like whether you’re introverted or organized. Values represent your guiding principles about what matters most to you—like whether you prioritize creativity, security, or helping others. Both influence your behavior, but values are about “what’s important” while traits are about “how you typically are.”

Key Takeaways:

• Values and traits are distinct but related: Research shows they’re separate psychological constructs with different patterns of stability over time
• Traits describe how you typically show up: Introversion, conscientiousness, and other Big Five traits reflect consistent behavioral patterns
• Values describe what matters most: Your values—like achievement, benevolence, or autonomy—serve as trans-situational guiding principles
• Both matter for meaningful work: Understanding the difference helps you choose career paths that align with your values AND honor your personality

What Are Personality Traits?

Personality traits describe your characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. They’re the “how you typically show up” part of who you are.

Think about it this way. If you’re introverted, you probably recharge by spending time alone rather than in large groups. That’s a trait pattern. It shows up consistently—at work, at home, with friends. Personality is understood as characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions which result in specific ways of interacting with your environment.

Psychologists often measure personality using the Big Five framework:

• Openness (curiosity, creativity, preference for novelty)
• Conscientiousness (organization, dependability, achievement-orientation)
• Extraversion (sociability, assertiveness, energy level)
• Agreeableness (compassion, cooperation, trust)
• Neuroticism (emotional stability, tendency toward anxiety)

These aren’t boxes that contain you. They’re dimensions. You might be highly organized (high conscientiousness) but also spontaneous in how you engage with new ideas (high openness).

Here’s what matters: traits are descriptive, not prescriptive. They describe tendencies, not destinies.

Research shows that personality encompasses stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns that differentiate you from other people. An introverted person naturally gravitates toward quiet environments. An extraverted person naturally seeks out interaction and energy from others.

But here’s the thing—I love this—traits don’t tell the whole story.

What Are Values?

Values are trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in your life. They’re about what matters most to you—not how you typically behave, but what you care about.

Schwartz defined basic values as trans-situational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or group. That’s academic language for something you experience every day: the things you make time for. The things that frustrate you when they’re missing. The priorities that show up again and again across different parts of your life.

Schwartz’s theory identifies ten basic values:

• Self-direction (independence, creativity, freedom)
• Stimulation (excitement, novelty, challenge)
• Hedonism (pleasure, enjoying life)
• Achievement (success, competence, ambition)
• Power (status, prestige, control)
• Security (safety, stability, harmony)
• Conformity (restraint, obedience, self-discipline)
• Tradition (respect, commitment, acceptance)
• Benevolence (helpfulness, loyalty, caring for others)
• Universalism (justice, equality, protecting all people)

What’s remarkable about this framework is that it’s been validated across 82 countries. Different cultures prioritize different values, but these ten show up everywhere. They’re universally recognized even as they vary in importance.

Here’s an example. If you value creativity, that priority shows up trans-situationally—across jobs, relationships, hobbies, decisions. You’ll choose creative work even if it pays less. You’ll gravitate toward friends who appreciate new ideas. You’ll get frustrated in rigid, by-the-book environments. The value guides the choices.

Values aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re decision-making criteria.

How Values and Traits Relate (But Aren’t the Same)

Values and personality traits are related—they correlate in predictable patterns—but research clearly shows they’re distinct psychological constructs.

A meta-analysis of personality traits and personal values found consistent relationships between the Big Five personality traits and Schwartz’s values. For example, people high in openness tend to value self-direction and stimulation. People high in agreeableness tend to value benevolence.

But here’s the thing: the relationships are not large. That’s actually the point. The correlations exist, but they’re modest—showing that traits and values are distinct constructs, not two ways of measuring the same thing.

Gordon Allport made this distinction as early as 1937. He referred to traits as temperament, and values as character. Both shape who you are, but they’re fundamentally different.

Recent research confirms this: values and traits show different patterns of stability over time, which provides clear evidence that the two are not the same psychological variable simply measured in a different way.

Think about it. An extraverted person might value benevolence (caring for others) or achievement (personal success) or security (stability and safety). The trait describes how they typically show up—energized by interaction, seeking social engagement. But the trait doesn’t determine what matters to them.

This distinction isn’t academic hairsplitting. It matters for self-understanding—and it really matters for finding work that lasts.

Why This Matters for Finding Meaningful Work

Understanding the difference between your traits and your values changes how you think about career fit. And this matters more than most people realize.

A job can honor your personality without aligning with what you care about—and that’s the recipe for comfortable misery.

Trait-aligned work feels natural. If you’re introverted, solo work or small-team collaboration feels easier than managing a large, high-energy sales team. If you’re conscientious, structured environments where organization is valued feel like home. When your work matches your traits, you’re swimming with the current instead of against it.

But natural isn’t the same as meaningful.

Value-aligned work feels meaningful. It serves what you care about. If you value helping others, work that contributes to people’s well-being matters to you—whether that’s healthcare, teaching, or customer service. If you value creativity, work that lets you generate new ideas or solve problems in original ways feeds something deep. Research shows that both values and personality predict behavior—but they predict different things.

You need both for work that lasts.

Here’s a concrete example. Imagine an introverted person (trait) who values helping others (value). This person doesn’t belong in isolating technical work where they never interact with people—even though it “fits” their introversion. They also don’t belong in high-energy group facilitation—even though it aligns with their value of service. They belong in quiet service roles: one-on-one counseling, behind-the-scenes nonprofit work, research that improves lives. Work that honors the trait AND serves the value.

When people say “I just want to be myself at work,” they’re talking about both. Work that lets you show up as you naturally are (traits) while serving what matters most to you (values). One without the other doesn’t work.

You cannot separate who you are and what you do—but “who you are” includes both how you show up and what matters to you.

Practical Self-Discovery

You don’t need a psychology degree to start understanding your values and traits. You just need to pay attention to the patterns.

For understanding your traits, ask:

• When do I feel most natural and energized? (Not “good,” but natural—like I’m swimming with the current)
• When do I feel like I’m forcing it? (Fighting my natural tendencies)
• What do people consistently notice about me? (Ask trusted friends—they see patterns you miss)
• How do I recharge? (Alone? With people? Through physical activity? Creative work?)

For understanding your values, ask:

• What do I make time for even when I’m busy? (Your calendar reveals priorities)
• What conflicts or injustices bother me most? (Strong reactions reveal values)
• If I had total freedom, what would I spend my time on? (Aspiration reveals what matters)
• What do I want my life to be about? (Not what you think you should say—what’s actually true)

Both require reflection and feedback from others. You’re too close to yourself to see clearly. Ask people who know you well: “What do you notice about what matters to me?” Their answers will surprise you.

Your values reveal themselves in what you gravitate toward and what frustrates you—not just what you think you should care about.

If you want to go deeper, explore The Meaning Movement’s resources on finding your purpose and developing your personal philosophy. Self-discovery is a journey, not a destination—and understanding the difference between your traits and your values is part of living with purpose.

Closing

Here’s what I know: you’re not confused about who you are because you’re doing it wrong. You’re confused because you’re complex.

You have traits that describe how you typically show up—your natural patterns, your tendencies, the way you engage with the world. You possess more freedom than you realize.

And you have values that describe what matters most to you—the priorities that guide your decisions, the things you care about deeply, the principles you won’t compromise.

Both shape you. Both matter.

Understanding yourself isn’t about finding one answer. It’s about noticing the patterns. It’s about paying attention to when you feel most natural and when you feel most alive—and recognizing that those aren’t always the same thing.

When you said “I just want to be myself at work,” you meant both. You wanted work that honors how you show up AND serves what you care about. Now you have language for it.

That’s where meaningful work lives—at the intersection of who you are and what matters to you.

I believe in you.