human behavior
unique expression of a core value system
Value Inquiry is more about the act of valuation than it is about specific values or standards that people or groups may hold.
At a simple level, value inquiry is seeking to understand humans by how they value the things, people and ideas in the world around them.
From a psychological approach, value inquiry can help explain motivation. This approach asserts that people are motivated to act and make decisions based on thinking patterns derived from the human tendency to apply a gradation of worth – to people and things.
As an empirical science, Robert S Hartman, the founder of formal axiology, measured human valuing patterns with the Hartman Value Profile (HVP). As a behavioral tool aiding coaches, consultants and counselors, the HVP has been found to be highly predictive of behavior.
Hartman’s value theory is a starting point for research into new areas of the human psyche and behavior. Investigating human valuing patterns is fundamental to many disciplines that need to understand humans better.
Principal Investigator
Malcolm A North, Ph.D, is the principal investigator affiliated with this site. His research interests include how individual value structure informs leadership and organizational development as well as existential, humanistic, positive and personality psychology. His previous study investigated Carl Roger’s theories that value judgment predicts human behavior, authentic living and pathology. You may contact him in the United States at +1.501.764 8389 and through this site. He is the principal developer of the Axiology Quotient (XQ) and this website, a member of the RS Hartman Institute for Formal and Applied Axiology and the American Psychologists Association. He has presented several workshops on applying value theory including developing leaders on judgment and decision-making in various locations including Vienna, Austria, Munich, Germany and more recently in the USA. His research credentials include certification from CITI (University of Miami) for research with human subjects in social sciences, a PhD in psychology and several publications leveraging Hartman’s value theory in studying behavior.
- Value Science – Hartman’s Value Theory
Value Science is the application of Robert S Hartman’s Value Theory and the science of formal axiology he developed.
In his day, Hartman and other great thinkers like Albert Einstein, recognized that technology, ideology, money and power were valued higher than human lives. In his quest to find out why, Hartman discovered that every individual has a unique valuing pattern that can be measured and used to predict behavior. This value analysis would identify thinking and judging patterns that consultants, psychologists and counselors use to help improve the social and conscious condition of humanity. His method of discovering these patterns culminated in the Hartman Value Profile (HVP).
Together with other other humanistic thinkers: Abraham Maslow, Erich Fromm and Viktor Frankl, Robert Hartman dreamed of creating a research and training center to further value inquiry and help solve critical social problems created by the human tendency of devaluing.
XQ Research exists to fill this goal through continual research and education to raise understanding and value intuity and help restore the potential for every individual to realize their own unique and unlimited value.
With its solid foundation in value theory, axiology is positioned to become a global meta-science with far-reaching applications in every field of human endeavour and behavior.
We are dedicated to the research, training and application of value-science and continue to seek co-operation with individuals and organizations whose ultimate goal is to restore the infinite value of human life.
Studies on Hartman’s axiology and research is reported in the Journal of Formal Axiology: Theory and practice, available with subscriptions to the Robert S Hartman Institute, Tennessee.
Hartman’s Value Profile
This unique assessment helps individuals, partners and groups realize their potential by mapping their current value structure. Our decisions, problem-solving and behavior are sourced in this structure.
If you wish to take Hartman’s Value Profile and add to our ongoing study of how value judgment shapes personality, please visit our tests page