The article is devoted to the study of the correlation of the normative prescriptions available in professional ethical codes and their value justification with the real value priorities of professional communities. As an example, we consider the texts of ethical codes for engineers, doctors, lawyers, and police officers. These codes identify requirements for the behavior of representatives of the relevant professions, as well as value justifications for the need to meet these requirements. These requirements and justifications are compared with the value priorities of representatives of the relevant professional communities, established on the basis of analysis of data from the European Social Survey. In accordance with the concept of M. Rokich, values are considered as stable beliefs of people in the priority of some life goals over other opposite life goals. To determine the value priorities of representatives of professional communities, the author uses a modification of the methodology for studying values developed by Sh. Schwartz. A comparative analysis of the normative and value structures of ethical codes and value priorities of the professional communities under consideration revealed the degree of their compliance with each other and determined the possibility of violating the rules of professional behavior due to simultaneous orientation to opposing life goals. Taking into account the duality of value orientations of representatives of specific professional communities will allow to increase the effectiveness of the application of ethical codes.