I think it's an unstable equilibrium. In the right group/social context, some values lead the behaviors of people (love, morality, spirituality) but it doesn't take much to go back to negotiation/power.
I think otherwise, and thanks to this fact we are still alive today. Just think of the numerous false positives in the Cold War, where individual soldiers responsible for launching the nukes reverted back to their moral code, undermining the very power structure that depended on them to function.