Taking Tolerance Seriously: A Proposal From a Self-Categorization Perspective on Disapproval and Respect

A dual-level disapproval-respect model of tolerance is proposed, and its social psychological foundations are explicated from a self-categorization perspective. The model specifies tolerance as the combination of disapproval of others' beliefs, practices, or ways of life, which results from self-categorization at the level of in-group-out-group differentiation (Level 1), and respect, which is grounded in shared group membership at a higher level of self-categorization and the resulting superordinate identity (Level 2) and operates as a restraining force. In short, tolerance is disapproval restrained by respect, or, put differently, respect burdened with disapproval. Drawing on pertinent empirical evidence, it is argued that such tolerance is realistic and practicable in that people are willing to practice it and, when they are the recipients, likely to appreciate it. The model throws new light on the roles of affect and cognition in tolerance, on the interrelation of tolerance, authenticity, and dignity, as well as the interrelation of tolerance, justice, and struggles for social change, and on the limits of tolerance. The examination of these issues from the perspective of the disapproval-respect model makes the social psychological, moral, and political dimensions of tolerance explicit and clarifies their interrelations. Finally, directions for future basic as well as applied research on tolerance as specified in the model are suggested, and broader sociocultural implications of taking such tolerance seriously are discussed.