Values and beliefs, often unconscious, affect our response to people and situations.  Most Canadians, for example, value “fairness.” “You’re not playing fair” is sharp criticism calling for changed behaviour.  In some countries, however, people expect certain groups to receive preferential treatment.  Most North Americans accept competition and believe that it produces better performance.  The Japanese, however, believe that competition leads to disharmony.  United States business people believe that success is based on individual achievement and is open to anyone who excels.  Canadians prefer co-operation to blatant competition.  In England and in France, success is more obviously linked to social class and in some countries the law prohibits people of some castes or races from participating in society.

Many North Americans value individualism.  Other countries rely on group consensus for decision making.  In traditional classrooms, North American students are expected to complete assignments alone.  If they receive too much help from anyone else, they are cheating.  In Japan, however, groups routinely work together to solve problems.  In the dominant North American culture, quiet is a sign that people are working.  In Latin American, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian countries, people talk to get the work done.  Conversely, the extroverted behaviours rewarded in the classrooms and boardrooms of North America are considered rude and crazy in Japanese culture.

Values and beliefs are often influenced by religion.  Christianity coexists with a view of the individual as proactive.  In some Muslim and Asian countries, however, it is seen as presumptuous to predict the future by promising action by a certain date.  Some Amish and Jewish communities live and work in strict adherence to traditional customs.  The Puritan work ethic, embraced as a cultural value throughout the north-eastern United States regardless of race or religion, legitimizes wealth e seeing it as a sign of divine favour.  In other Christian cultures, a simpler lifestyle is considered as being closer to God.