From internalized equality to tolerance towards others: Self-respect predicts tolerance for minority groups in Serbia and Syria

Prior research has shown that self-respect (i.e., a person’s belief of possessing the same rights as others) predicted concern for others’ rights (in terms of positive attitudes towards human rights) and a generally tolerant attitude towards dissenting others. In this research, we go beyond prior research and investigate whether self-respect is associated with tolerance towards minority groups in countries where socio-political (and religious) tensions existing between majority and minority groups are relatively high. For this purpose, we asked Serbians (N = 194) and Syrians (N = 313) to fill out questionnaires including measures of self-respect, tolerance towards three different minority groups (an ethnic, a religious, and a sexual minority) and respective disapproval measures, and tested a hypothesized structural equation model. We found that self-respect predicted tolerance towards Roma, Muslims, and homosexuals in Serbia and towards Palestinian refugees and Christians in Syria. In Syria, no relation was found with tolerance for homosexuals, but statistical variance was limited. We discuss our findings and the limits of self-respect as a predictor of tolerance in the context of highly disapproved outgroups and highlight the overall potential of self-respect for fostering a concern for own and others’ rights and duties.