Value Pluralism Model

Definition

What happens when two or more values come into conflict? What will determine the level of conflict a person experiences, and how will the person go about resolving it? The value pluralism model (VPM) addresses these questions. The VPM, in its original form, consists of three interrelated sets of propositions:

• 1.
  Underlying all belief systems are core or terminal values that specify what the ultimate goals of life should be (e.g., economic efficiency, social equality, individual freedom). Different values may point to different and often contradictory goals.
• 2.
  People find value conflicts challenging for at least three reasons. First, people confronted with conflicting values find it cognitively difficult to make apples-and-oranges comparisons between them (e.g., How much of my economic prosperity am I willing to give up ...