Personal Values Questionnaire Readapted: development process and initial contributions to the validation

This paper presents the development process and validation initial studies of the Personal Values Questionnaire Readaptated (QVPR), an instrument for assessing the importance of values as guiding principles in life, developed through Personal Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 1992; translational and adaptation: Menezes & Campos, 1991). The study involved 630 subjects (15-73 years), answered the QVPR and a questionnaire about socio-demographic information. Exploratory factor analysis, conducted with 67 items, resulted in a structure of eight factors - Relational, Traditionalism, Adventure, Social Power, Personal Balance, Personal Achievement, Social Concern, Spirituality -with very adequate levels of internal consistency, and 63 items. The analysis of sex differences in the values dimensions demonstrates that, for women, the values inherent in the dimensions Relation, Spirituality and and Personal Balance are more central while guiding principles of their lives, which supports, in part, results from other studies. In cross-sectional study, the differences observed between groups suggests agreement of most dimensions, throughout the life cycle, and the deviation significance of the dimensions, according to the different developmental tasks inherent in each age group. The QVPR can establish itself as an instrument of evaluation of the motivations for individual behavior and the meaning of life, allowing to characterize and differentiate people and groups.