Dr Frederik G. PferdtFrom Stanford & Google — To You

Values: Formed by 25, Changed by Trauma

22 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt says most people lock in their core values by 25, shaped by genetics, family, culture, and experience. Major trauma is one of the few things that can actually change them after that point, though how much you express your values can shift throughout life.

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Based on that, I would say that most people's values are pretty formed by age 25. And the reason why I say that is that how your values are formed is a big stew. You know, it's your genes, it's your parents, it's your culture, it's your neighbors, it's your best friend, it's your experience, it's often your trauma. And so values are formed by a lot of different ingredients. And it all goes into a stew, which pretty much gets stirred up. And my best observation is, it's empirical at this point, is that by age 25, those values are pretty set. And what changes in your life is how much you express them or repress them. So, but there's one big but, and it's a very important but, and that is that I think your values can be changed by a seismic event that occurs, like trauma.