value * The judgement of perceived attributes, and of paths to goals, normally associated with attitude. * Such evaluations may include goodness, honesty, toughness and other such dimensions and will vary in intensity according to the value judgement. A distinction should be made between moral values and other values. With moral value the individual prescribes judgement on the basis of, as Brown (1965) calls it, 'moral obligation'. The individual's use of 'ought' or 'should' suggests such obligation, and something that is very different from other statements about values that connote only a sense of desirability; for example, 'I like' or 'I want'. The analysis of value has much relevance to the study of culture and communication. Intergroup relations may be based on the operation of differing value systems as a result of different social and cultural location. Of course the internalization. of values depends essentially on communicated information, often through socialization. In the context of linguistics, Saussure (1974) has defined value as the relationship of a word to other related words in the same system, which is established by difference or distinctive features. For instance, the value of 'mutton' is that it is not-lamb, not-sheep, not-beef Linguistic value is a function of differences within the system. DS See attitude, culture, primary group, socialization Further reading Tajfel and Fraser (eds) (1987); Brown (1965); Fiske (19820; Abrams et al. (eds) (1985)