Threat-based values include control, avoidance, blame deflection, moral vigilance, and perfectionism. Here’s how to lead using core, growth-oriented values that can benefit your organisation.
Values are not what you think. Yes, they’re fundamental drivers that impact how you evaluate, interpret, and respond to the world around you. They elicit an emotional response when activated and can be incredibly motivating. Their prioritisation for you will change as you shift through different life stages.
What no one seems to talk about – and yet this has such a profound impact on people’s experience – is that it seems each of us holds not one but two broad sets of values, and we’re likely to act quite differently depending on which values set is prioritised at any one time.
Renowned (and oftentimes competing) values researchers Shalom Schwartz and Valdiney Gouveia seem to agree on this; each of us has not one but two broad sets of human values that we prioritise under different conditions. We have our core values, which are growth-oriented and are easier to align with when we’re feeling relatively threat-free. Think of them as more collectively minded values that make space for ‘we, our’ in our planned responses.
“Each of us holds not one but two broad sets of values, and we’re likely to act quite differently depending on which values set is prioritised at any one time.”
Greta Bradman
These values are also referred to as ‘growth’-oriented values, because they tend to return larger, later rewards. It is this group of values we tend to think of when talking about ‘core’ values, or an organization’s values. Yet we all have a secondary set, which is often ignored – to our detriment.
Here’s where it gets interesting: When we feel under threat – whether from uncertainty, stress, or even social pressure – our values shift in priority order. We can find ourselves prioritising a smaller set of threat-based values that offer surviving in the short-term (be it physical or reputational), at the expense of longer-term growth and fulfilment.
Threat-based values include control, avoidance, blame deflection, moral vigilance, and perfectionism. They don’t just influence our behaviour – they shape the justifications we use for our actions.
The kicker is that in our hyperconnected world, feeling under threat can seem almost as omnipresent as the air we breathe. And, given how common stress and uncertainty are in our lives, without intentional work we can find ourselves defaulting to threat-based actions far more often than is really needed. If we let ourselves default our actions to these values every time we feel under pressure, we risk slowly eroding our own sense of self and fulfillment over time.
The compounding returns from prioritising core-values aligned actions that yield ‘larger, later’ rewards are being eroded and undermined by the compounding impact of prioiritising threat-based actions that reap ‘smaller, sooner’ benefits aimed simply at surviving.
So, how can you notice you’re reacting from a place of fear, stress, or defensiveness? It may be that you’re focusing on ‘me’ and ‘my’ at the expense of ‘we’ and ‘our’, and then justifying those actions.
How to respond when feeling threatened
Next, what can you do when you notice yourself reacting from a place of fear, stress, or defensiveness? The key isn’t to fight these responses, or to interpret them as reflecting anything bad (they’re completely normal and natural responses). Rather, recognise them, make room for them, and take action that aligns with your core values. Here’s where psychological flexibility comes in.
When you catch yourself acting from control or avoidance, blame or perfectionism, pause. Ask yourself: “What am I feeling right now?” Naming the reaction creates space between you and the impulse to react. Next, we aim to defuse and reconnect with your core values. Instead of trying to suppress the feeling, acknowledge it: “I notice I’m feeling the urge to control right now. That makes sense given the situation.”
From here, bring your core value back into focus by asking, “What do I want to stand for in this moment?” and “If I weren’t feeling under threat, how would I act?”, or even “Standing at my 90th birthday party, how would I want to reminisce about this moment and feel proud in how I responded?”
From there, choose one small, committed action that aligns with your core values even if discomfort is present (and I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be uncomfortable). Move toward your core values through this action, and toward the discomfort.
These are the hallmarks of a ‘toward’ move; they tend to take you in the direction you want to head as well as in the direction of discomfort. “Away” moves on the other hand tend to be characterised by moving ‘away’ from discomfort and away from the version of yourself you seek to grow into.
“Without intentional work we can find ourselves defaulting to threat-based actions far more often than is really needed.”
Greta Bradman
If you’re feeling perfectionistic or like an impostor, practice self-compassion and a ‘good enough’ action. If you’re feeling blame-driven, focus on responsibility, collaboration, and maintaining a growth mindset. If you’re feeling the urge to avoid, move toward whatever it is you’re seeking to avoid. Over time, your toward moves add up into reducing a tendency to engage in threat-based actions, and support you in growing the ‘you’ you aspire to.
A final note on this, one of the fundamental ways I see threat-based values playing out at work is through micromanaging (control and perfectionism, sometimes accompanied by a dash of blame deflection or hypercriticism).
When the micromanager takes a breath, notices the threat-based values in play, names them and associated feelings, and asks, “What’s more important – having this done my way, or empowering my team to learn and grow?” there is an opportunity to choose the way forward, whatever that might be in a given circumstance.
In so many moments, the real question is not just “What do I value?” but “What version of myself do I want to grow toward in this moment?” The discomfort of shifting from a threat-based response to a values-driven action is real – but so is the long-term fulfillment that comes from making more ‘toward moves’ – choices aligned with who aspire to look back on with admiration and fulfillment.
Greta is a psychologist and AI researcher who heads up People Science AI at Culture Amp. She is author of What Matters to You: How Your Values are the Key to Transforming Your Life and Work (ABC Books & Harper Collins, available 19 March, 2025).
