Our initial speculations have now been extensively confirmed, honed, and extended in field research. The system is currently being applied in many areas of business and is evoking interest in circles as diverse as sociology, politics, law, education, and medicine. A basic tool of the VALS program is the VALS typology. This typology is divided into four major categories, with a total of nine lifestyles. It should be understood from the start that these lifestyle categories are not fixed and immutable.
Many people grow from one level to another as children, as adolescents, and as adults.
Some very few may start at the bottom and reach the top within a lifetime, but far more common is movement of a level or two. The VALS typology is hierarchical. Three of the four major developmental categories are subdivided into lifestyle phases representing stages of advancement within the main category. Very generally, psychological maturation is marked by a progression from partial toward full realization of one's potential. It involves a steady widening of perspectives and concerns and a steady deepening of the inner reference points consulted in making important decisions.