A typology of the different contents of values was derived using the following
reasoning. In order to cope with reality in a social context, groups and
individuals cognitively transform the necessities inherent in human existence and
express them in the language of specific values about which they can then
communicate. Specifically, values represent, in the form of conscious goals,
responses to three universal requirements with which all individuals and societies
must cope: needs of individuals as biological organisms, requisites of coordinated
social interaction, and requirements for the smooth functioning and survival
of groups.