Although each of us has a unique set of values, there also are values that tend to permeate a culture. These are called cultural values. Cultural values generally are normative in that they inform a member of a culture what is good and bad, right and false, positive and negative, and the like. Cultural values define what is worthwhile to die for, what is worth protecting, what frightens people and their social systems, what are considered proper subjects for study and for ridicule, and what types of events lead individuals to group solidarity. Cultural values also specify what behaviors are of importance and which should be avoided within a culture. Values represent a learned organization of rules for making choices and for resolving conflicts. The values held by participants in intercultural communication are important because values develop standards and guidelines that establish appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in a society. Values, in other words, help determine how people ought to behave with the result that people will exhibit and expect behaviors according to their value systems. To the extent that cultural value systems differ, we may expect that intercultural communication participants will tend to exhibit and to expect different behaviors under similar circumstances.