ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the special circumstances that result in value becoming a monopolizing goal. The easiest place to see the monopolizing power of value is in the earliest stage of relationships. Participants in the self-affirmation condition described how their most important personal value gave their life meaning. The chapter illustrates the association between pre-test relationship satisfaction and compensatory conviction for participants in the expectancy violation and control conditions in the first surreal stories experiment. It explores personal and relationship contexts that can tip the equilibrium point of the risk regulation balance in value's decided favor. The chapter describes how safety and value goals operate as part of an interconnected goal system. Safety might be a moot goal for the self-affirmed because reflecting on personal values actively connects people to an orderly and meaningful world. Being actively engaged in this broader world can then testify that nothing bad will happen and little can be lost in forging ahead.
