Such practices can be intentional or unintentional. Self-esteem is linked to family traditions, language, social customs, economic background, and other aspects of one's cultural environment. The belief that all people of a certain racial, ethnic, or cultural group are the same and behave in the same way. Values are our subjective reactions to the world around us. They guide and mold our options and behavior.
Values have three important characteristics.
First, values are developed early in life and are very resistant to change. Values develop out of our direct experiences with people who are important to us, particularly our parents. Values rise not out of what people tell us, but as a result how they behave toward us and others. Second, values define what is right and what is wrong. Third, values themselves cannot be proved correct or incorrect, valid or invalid, right or wrong.