Over time each of these groups of people developed their own cultures and lifestyles. Although still based on the lands, the lifestyles changed due to religion, diet, and more. Culturally, the people grew further and further apart, but being somewhat isolated in the mountains, there was little conflict due to these differences.
As political conflicts ebbed and flowed over time so too did alliances. Often times the Serbs and Montenegrins united due to their many similarities, but at other times unity cast a wider net and included nearly everyone. What has been fairly consistent though is the people's ability to maintain peace, particularly in comparison to the region as a whole. When battles and wars were magnified, the Montenegrins tended to wait.
Today the Montenegrins remain diverse culturally, yet united politically. The people all have differing cultures and lifestyles as they have taken few moves to define themselves or exclude others. This has also led to a lack of identity and a failure to define or understand who they are. Many of the ethnic Albanians, Serbs, and Bosniaks identify as such, but the ethnic Montenegrins are only now beginning to understand who they are as they seem to be in a slow process to define themselves, their culture, their lifestyle, and their identity.