In the August 2007 eZine I wrote:

"As you can see in the chart, after September 11, 2001 people placed significantly higher priority on Self-Preservation and Security than anytime in the ten years before the event. A shift in people's world-view to one of fear and uncertainty would explain the increased priority on Self-Preservation and Security. Interestingly, in 2006, people's Self-Preservation and Security priorities returned to their pre-September 11 levels suggesting people are no longer 'buying' the politically driven world-view of fear.

"A permanent world-view change seems to have occurred as a result of September 11. The priority people are currently placing on Family/Belonging values is significantly higher than anytime before September 11. This suggests people are turning to family, and relationships with others, to give them the security and certainty in life which September 11 temporarily took away from them. "

Figure 1 is the same chart as the one I was referring to above, but with two year's more data. As you can see little has changed since I first reported the world-view shift which has occurred as a result of September 11, 2001.

Figure 1 - Value Cluster Priority Changes—January 1990 to December 2008

There are eight clusters of values: Self-Preservation, Security, Family/Belonging, Organization, Self-Actualisation, Service, Emerging Order, Wisdom, and Global Transformation. In the 2007 eZine, I only plotted the first three of these clusters. This time, for interest, I've added the Organizational cluster. The fact that the priority people place on Organizational values also rose after September 11, 2001 seems to indicate that, not only did people turn to relationships to deal with the "scary new world" in which they now found themselves, but they also immersed themselves, more than ever before, in their work.

This later point will have implications for how these people could react if they lose their job as part of the current global economic crisis.

I'd be interested in your comments.