Does Respect Foster Tolerance? (Re)analyzing and Synthesizing Data From a Large Research Project Using Meta-Analytic Techniques

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does Respect Foster Tolerance? (Re)analyzing and Synthesizing Data From a Large Research Project Using Meta-Analytic Techniques

AU - Zitzmann, Steffen

AU - Loreth, Lukas

AU - Reininger, Klaus Michael

AU - Simon, Bernd

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Grant SI 428/20-1 from the German Research Foundation (DFG) awarded to Bernd Simon. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - Our own prior research has demonstrated that respect for disapproved others predicts and might foster tolerance toward them. This means that without giving up their disapproval of others’ way of life, people can tolerate others when they respect them as equals (outgroup respect–tolerance hypothesis). Still, there was considerable variation in the study features. Moreover, the studies are part of a larger research project that affords many additional tests of our hypothesis. To achieve integration along with a more robust understanding of the relation between respect and tolerance, we (re)analyzed all existing data from this project, and we synthesized the results with the help of meta-analytic techniques. The average standardized regression coefficient, which describes the relationship between respect and tolerance, was 0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.16, 0.34]). In addition to this overall confirmation of our hypothesis, the size of this coefficient varied with a number of variables. It was larger for numerical majorities than for minorities, smaller for high-status than for low-status groups, and larger for religious than for life-style groups. These findings should inspire further theory development and spur growth in the social-psychological literature on tolerance.

AB - Our own prior research has demonstrated that respect for disapproved others predicts and might foster tolerance toward them. This means that without giving up their disapproval of others’ way of life, people can tolerate others when they respect them as equals (outgroup respect–tolerance hypothesis). Still, there was considerable variation in the study features. Moreover, the studies are part of a larger research project that affords many additional tests of our hypothesis. To achieve integration along with a more robust understanding of the relation between respect and tolerance, we (re)analyzed all existing data from this project, and we synthesized the results with the help of meta-analytic techniques. The average standardized regression coefficient, which describes the relationship between respect and tolerance, was 0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.16, 0.34]). In addition to this overall confirmation of our hypothesis, the size of this coefficient varied with a number of variables. It was larger for numerical majorities than for minorities, smaller for high-status than for low-status groups, and larger for religious than for life-style groups. These findings should inspire further theory development and spur growth in the social-psychological literature on tolerance.

KW - disapproval

KW - meta-analysis

KW - respect

KW - tolerance

U2 - 10.1177/01461672211024422

DO - 10.1177/01461672211024422

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

VL - 48

SP - 823

EP - 843

JO - PERS SOC PSYCHOL B

JF - PERS SOC PSYCHOL B

SN - 0146-1672

IS - 6

ER -