<P> There may be a distinction between positive and negative philosophic or ethic value . While positive ethic value generally correlates with something that is pursued or maximized, negative ethic value correlates with something that is avoided or minimized . </P> <P> Negative value may be both intrinsic negative value and / or instrumental negative value . </P> <P> A protected value (also sacred value) is one that an individual is unwilling to trade off no matter what the benefits of doing so may be . For example, some people may be unwilling to kill another person, even if it means saving many others individuals . Protected values tend to be "intrinsically good", and most people can in fact imagine a scenario when trading off their most precious values would be necessary . If such trade - offs happen between two competing protected values such as killing a person and defending your family they are called tragic trade - offs . </P> <P> Protected values have been found to be play a role in protracted conflicts (e.g., the Israeli - Palestinian conflict) because they can hinder businesslike (' ' utilitarian' ') negotiations . A series of experimental studies directed by Scott Atran and Ángel Gómez among combatants on the ISIS frontline in Iraq and with ordinary citizens in Western Europe suggest that commitment to sacred values motivate the most "devoted actors" to make the costliest sacrifices, including willingness to fight and die, as well as a readiness to forsake close kin and comrades for those values if necessary . From the perspective of utilitarianism, protected values are biases when they prevent utility from being maximized across individuals . </P>

Values that are fundamental across culture are called