Value priorities and subjective well-being: direct relations and congruity eects LILACH SAGIV* and SHALOM H. SCHWARTZ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Abstract Two studies investigated relations of value priorities to measures of subjective well- being. Samples of students and adults, from Israel and former East and West Germany (N  1261), participated in Part I. Hypothesized direct relations of nine types of values to well-being, based on `healthy' values from the psychotherapy literature, relations of values to needs, self-determination theory, and the emotional resources needed to pursue various values were tested in each sample. Achievement, self-direction, stimulation, tradition, conformity and security values correlated with aective well- being, as predicted, but not with cognitive well-being. Part II tested the hypothesis that well-being depends upon congruence between personal values and the prevailing value environment. Results largely supported speci®c hypotheses regarding the values conducive to positive and negative well-being among students of business administration (n  40) and psychology (n  42). Hypotheses were derived from the social sanc- tions, environmental aordances for value attainment, and internal value con¯icts likely to be experienced in each department. Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Since the 1980s, research on the antecedents and correlates of subjective well-being has been especially active (Larsen, Diener, & Emmons, 1984; Pavot & Diener, 1991). Most researchers agree that two aspects of subjective well-being should be distinguished, a cognitive aspectÐusually conceptualized as a person's satisfaction- with-lifeÐand an aective aspectÐusually conceptualized as a person's feeling of happiness/sadness (Argyle & Martin, 1991). Three lines of research into in¯uences on subjective well-being are noteworthy. One line examined eects of objective life-circumstances such as marital status on sub- jective well-being (Campbell, Converse, & Rogers, 1976; Vero, Douvan, & Kukla, Copyright # 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 6 July 1998 Accepted 3 March 1999 European Journal of Social Psychology Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 30, 177±198 (2000) *Correspondence to: Lilach Sagiv, School of Business Administration, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel. e-mail: mslilach@mscc.huji.ac.il Contract/grant sponsor: Recanati Fund of the School of Business Administration, Hebrew University. Contract/grant sponsor: German-Israeli Foundation for Scienti®c Research and Development. Contract/grant number: I-241-065. Contract/grant sponsor: Leon and Clara Sznajderman Chair of Psychology.