Display value not key of list after loading of node
If your field allows only 1 value, you can do it in both ways, i.e Controller or Twig :

Controller   

$node-&gt;field_contest_things-&gt;getFieldDefinition()-&gt;getSetting('allowed_values')[$node&gt;field_contest_things-&gt;value];


Twig   

{{ node.field_contest_things.fieldDefinition.settings['allowed_values'][node.field_contest_things.value] }}


Update

You can now skip the usage of fieldDefinition on the latests Drupal 8 updates:

{{ node.field_contest_things.setting('allowed_values')[node.field_contest_things.value] }}




By experience, I suggest you to move for a taxonomy if you need to query your node by this field value on the future. It's more maintainable &amp; scalable.



Hope it helps you !