A virtuous cycle: self-respect and tolerant attitudes toward dissenting others

Past research on tolerance has often focused on tolerance toward specific political or social groups. In the present research, we introduce a general tolerant attitude measure tapping tolerant attitudes toward dissenting others which can be used in wide variety of contexts. Moreover, we investigated for which individuals it is easier to have a tolerant attitude and compared different entitlement beliefs (the perception of having the same (i.e. self-respect), of having more and of having fewer rights than others) as predictors. Study 1, (N = 308) using a cross-sectional design, revealed that self-respect was positively associated with a tolerant attitude over and above other entitlement perceptions (having more or fewer rights). In Study 2 (N = 642), using a longitudinal cross-lagged panel model we demonstrated that self-respect predicted a tolerant attitude six months later. Unexpectedly, having a tolerant attitude toward dissenting others also predicted self-respect (i.e. one's perception of being equal to others) over time. We discuss the potential of fostering self-respect for individuals and societies, where self-respect and tolerant attitudes might reinforce each other.