In the social realm, value is a function of friction.
While delicate technology is easily shattered, traditions and rituals derive their durability from the "hard-fought battles" required to establish them. We imbue ideologies with conviction only after we have paid a high entry price.
The more effort spent and cost expended, the more "real" a circumstance becomes to the collective psyche. This creates psychological armor: what was difficult to construct is nearly impossible to break, as the cost of abandoning the struggle feels like a betrayal.
Value, in this sense, is the shadow cast by sacrifice.