The 7 differences between tolerance and respect

There are terms that, despite having completely different meanings, tend to be confused due to their incorrect use when speaking. This is what happens, for example, with the concepts of tolerance and respect; a lot of people use them as synonyms, when in reality their meaning differs.

In this article we are going to explain what are the main differences between tolerance and respect. First, we will analyze these concepts individually, and later we will see a list of aspects in which we can distinguish between the two.

• Related article: "What is Cultural Psychology?"

What is tolerance?

To correctly understand the differences between tolerance and respect, let's first see what tolerance is; This refers to the fact of enduring a situation, even though it is adverse for us.

That is to say, the tolerant subject does not express disagreement with the unpleasant circumstances that he has to faceInstead, he endures them, stoically and without interfering with the actions of others.

Tolerance does not imply understanding that other people may have opinions that are different from ours and that it is best to accept them in a healthy way, within the framework of social norms. This term focuses mainly on the fact that

accept without understanding the why of things.

For example, when I accept that people yell at me or treat me badly in any other way, and for no apparent reason, I am showing an attitude of tolerance, as I am willing to endure abuse from others without resisting some.

What is respect?

Respect, on the other hand, refers to a more complex understanding process than the one that can occur when we are only tolerant. That is, when we respect, we do so because we have analyzed and understand that other people have valid reasons to think differently.

The attitude of respect is based on the value that people have for the opinions and thoughts of others; that is why respect in itself becomes a fundamental value of human beings. For there to be respect, there must be empathy, you need to put yourself in the other person's shoes a bit.

Respect also includes making yourself respected by others; the belief of "I respect but I demand that they also respect me". Otherwise, we would be moving from an attitude of genuine respect to one of tolerance, where a of the two parties would be enduring mistreatment from the others, as it is a relationship asymmetric.

Differences between tolerance and respect

As we have seen before, respect is mainly focused on understanding the needs of others and accepting that those needs are not always the same as ours, while tolerance is focused on an attitude of enduring unconditionally.

Next, we will take a more detailed look at some of the differences between respecting and tolerating, concepts that lend themselves so much to the confusion of the public.

1. The level of empathy

This is one of the main differences between tolerating and respecting; when we respect we do it because we care about the opinions of others, including the reasons someone has for thinking the way they think. On the other hand, when we tolerate, we are only being submissive, without taking anything else into account.

• You may be interested: "Empathy, much more than putting yourself in someone else's shoes"

2. The self-esteem

Subjects who only tolerate, without being respected, they usually have some conflict with their self-esteem. In other words, the better the self-esteem, the greater the degree of respect for oneself and for others; while those with a poorly established self-esteem will only be tolerant, because they believe that their position is not worth defending.

3. Analysis capacity

To respect an opinion different from ours, it is necessary to have the ability to analyze the different factors that surround that opinion on the part of the other person. On the other hand, if we only tolerate opinions that we do not like, we are not really understanding the reasons, we are only acting out of inertia to tolerate and by social pressure.

4. Self-sufficiency

It may happen that people tolerate certain behaviors of others solely because they are unable to fend for themselves; instead, when the subject is self-sufficient he is able to respect himself more and stop tolerating uncomfortable situations.

5. The need for approval

Another key difference between tolerance and respect is people's need for approval, those with a higher level of blind tolerance are generally looking for acceptance to everything in a social group.

6. Cultural influence

Those people with closed thinking, where the cultural influence is irrefutable, have a greater degree of tolerance for the ideas of the different cultures that exist. Secondly, subjects with free thought are able to respect the beliefs of others no matter how different they are.

7. Social skills

Social skills are seen to a greater extent in those who have better impulse management, and therefore more ability to respect the thoughts of others despite not coinciding with them.

On the other hand, people who have constant difficulties to relate tend to show a level of excessive tolerance when they do not know how to behave towards certain people whom they wish Please.