Abstract

Values have been understood as inherent in all aspects of psychotherapeutic theory, research, and practice. Their presence in definitions of mental health has been acknowledged, and it has been proposed that client value change may be an important component of treatment effectiveness. The impact of different values on the psychological experience of the individual, however, has been largely unexplored. The present investigation was designed to examine the potential relationship between one's values and relative mental health. ;Specifically, the suggestion that mental health necessitates the maintenance of cognitive distortions that insulate an individual from negative aspects of reality was evaluated in terms of its value assumptions. Drawing from the work of Soren Kierkegaard, it was suggested that this perspective assumes mental health to be devoid of psychological distress, and therefore denies its achievement to any whose values demand openness to all experience and lead inevitably to some affective instability and pain. ;Values and mental health questionnaires were administered to 302 undergraduates, and their results correlated. An instrument designed to assess the relative stability expected in one's "ideal life" was created, and its results examined in relation to values and mental health indices. Twenty-seven students completed a qualitative survey which required them to distinguish between the "most mentally healthy" and the "best" persons. ;Results provided some support for the existence of a relationship between values and mental health. Both self-esteem and overall satisfaction with life were positively associated with values thought to facilitate the pursuit of conventional happiness. Subjects who predicted greater amounts of stability in their "ideal life" reported fewer symptoms of depression and higher self-esteem in their current life. Responses to the qualitative survey suggest these undergraduates believe mentally healthy people experience fewer symptoms of psychological distress than do the "best" people. ;Results are examined in relation to recent literature indicating that the current concept of optimal psychological functioning as emotional equilibrium may effectively impede personal and social growth. It is suggested that the definition of mental health be expanded to include those whose values lead them to the inevitable experience of some self-doubt, depression, anxiety, and general psychological instability