Key Findings for October 2026

October came down hard from September's peak. 32,630 assessments were -43.1% on September and -27.4% on October 2025, a steeper autumn drop than in any of the last three years. The top three stayed in place for a third month running. Family held #1 for appearance rate at 40.6% (-1.6%) and led the "Top 1" ranking with its highest share since September 2024 (14.1%, +4.7%). Love stayed 2nd (36.0%, -3.2%) and Friendship 3rd (33.9%, -7.8%), though with less than two tenths of a point to spare.

The value closing on Friendship was Growth, which climbed two ranks back to 4th (33.8%, +8.1%) after two months of losses. The relational cluster that carried the summer eased everywhere except at the very top. Loyalty fell two ranks to 6th (29.8%, -8.5%, Top 1 -12.6%), Respect held 5th but slipped -5.1%, Trust held 7th (-4.8%), and Honesty dropped three ranks out of the top ten to 12th (23.8%, -2.7%) even as its "Top 1" share rose +14.0%. Financial stability took its place, rising three ranks to 9th (24.6%, +4.3%). Health stayed 11th for a second month outside the top ten, but steadied (24.1%, +1.7%) and grew its "Top 1" share +10.8%.

The bigger movement sat further down, where the purpose values that retreated through August and September came back. Contribution climbed eleven ranks to 34th (+25.5%, Top 1 +28.7%), Inner harmony twelve to 43rd (+19.2%), Competence nine to 33rd (+22.8%), Authenticity seven to 14th (20.2%, +19.2%, Top 1 +35.0%) and Meaningful work five to 20th (+18.2%), with Ethics (+12.0%) and Curiosity (+9.9%) close behind. The five that climbed furthest each won back roughly half of what they had lost since July. Status and achievement went the other way and gave back much of what they gained in August and September. Wealth fell nine ranks to 39th (12.0%, -17.3%, Top 1 -23.8%), Success five to 19th (18.6%, -13.2%), and Fame (-17.3%), Popularity (-13.4%) and Authority (-8.8%) all shrank from small bases. Religion slid nine ranks to 36th (12.8%, -16.7%), most of the way back to where it sat before August's breakout, while still converting appearances into a #1 place more often than any other value (40.9%). Forgiveness (-17.0%) fell nine ranks, and Tradition (-12.8%) stayed last at 3.4%.

Set against October 2025, the change in a year is plain. A year ago Health led at 49.2%, followed by Peace and Trust, and Family sat 5th at 39.7%. Family is now almost exactly where it was (+2.3%), while Health (-51.0%), Peace (-39.8%), Financial stability (-38.3%), Trust (-31.9%) and Security (-44.6%) fell away beneath it and Pleasure dropped from 8th to 49th (-65.2%). Growth rose from 17th to 4th (+56.0%), Friendship from 10th to 3rd (+38.6%) and Loyalty from 13th to 6th (+31.4%), and Contribution (+278.9%) and Competence (+109.7%) more than doubled from near the bottom of the table. Last October the people taking the assessment reached first for safety. This October they reached for the people around them, and for room to grow.