sun by using sunscreen, wearing a hat and long-sleeved shirt, and perhaps even using
an umbrella on sunny days.
But what constitutes a belief? Simplistically stated, a belief is a concept or idea that
an individual or group holds to be true. Beliefs represent our subjective conviction in
the truth of something—with or without proof. The degree to which we believe that an
object, event, phenomenon, person, or group of people possesses certain characteristics
reflects the level of our subjective probability and, consequently, the depth or intensity
of our belief. Perhaps you believe that life begins at the moment of conception. This
belief may be a product of your faith or some aspect of biology you subscribe to. If you
hold this belief, you will probably associate with other like-minded individuals, which
will serve to reinforce your conviction, as reported by Chiu and Hong:“a shared belief
or attitude is usually perceived to be more valid than one that is not shared. When a
person holds a certain belief or attitude, knowing that other people share this belief or
attitude [will] increase the person’s adherence to his belief or attitude.”^6
What makes our belief system important is that it is learned, and subject to cultural
interpretation. Therefore, shared beliefs can come to represent cultural norms, or values,
characterizing a large collective of people.^7 For example, the belief in individual equal-
ity promotes the widely held U.S. value of individuality and reduces the importance of
hierarchy and formality. But even within a large collective, people may hold beliefs that
run counter to the beliefs of others. For instance, the U.S. population currently has sig-
nificant differences over social issues such as gun control, government regulations, the
use of racial quotas in college admission, capital punishment, and a host of other con-
cerns. Thus, beliefs and the cultural values they may produce can both unite and
divide. But in those situations where you find that someone does not share your beliefs
and values, you cannot simply throw up your hands and declare the other person’scon-
victions to be wrong. In today’s globalized society you have to be able to recognize the
importance of other peoples’beliefs and how those beliefs and values shape their world-
view and even their manner of communicating.Values
As alluded to earlier, beliefs form the foundation of values. What you consider desirable
for yourself and for the society you live in is a product of your values, which can be held
both consciously and subconsciously. Although each of us has a unique set of values,
there are also values that tend to permeate and characterize a culture. Thesecultural
valuesprovide a set of guidelines that assist the culture’s members in deciding what is
good or bad, desirable or undesirable, right or wrong, and appropriate or inappropriate
in almost every context of human activity. Institutionalized cultural values define what
is worth dying for, what is worth protecting, what frightens people, which subjects are
worthy of study, and which topics deserve ridicule. Varied cultural values can create
intercultural conflict at both a personal and an international level. For instance, in the
United States people place a high value on individual rights and personal freedom, and
they think that those opportunities should be available to everyone in the world. In
China, however, the conservative leadership believes that“social harmony and moral
rectitude”should take precedence over individual preferences.^8 The Chinese Commu-
nist Party also rejects the Western view of human rights as an individualistic concept
and considers their responsibility for“lifting millions from poverty and ensuring [societal]
stability”to be a more compelling requirement than individual rights.^9202 CHAPTER 6•Cultural Values: Road Maps for Behavior
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