Abstract
The notion of tolerance is widely embraced in plural contexts, but little is known about how majority members interpret the toleration of minorities. With four studies, we investigated majority group members' interpretations of a minority toleration situation (compared to full acceptance and discrimination situations) as a function of outgroup threat. Study 1 (N = 214) showed that higher perception of threat from Syrian refugees was associated with Turkish natives' stronger likelihood of interpreting a refugee toleration situation as ‘acceptance’. Studies 2 (N = 161, threatening context: Syrian refugees-Turkish natives) and 3 (N = 206, non-threatening context: homosexuals-liberal heterosexual students) demonstrated that toleration was interpreted more as a form of acceptance in a high-threat context, whereas it was perceived more like discrimination in the non-threatening context. Experimental Study 4 (N = 150, pre-registered, Muslims-Christians in the UK) indicated that increasing outgroup threat led to higher legitimization of toleration, which, in turn, related to lower support of minority rights. It is concluded that outgroup threat affects how people interpret the way in which minorities are treated, which has implications for initiatives and policies that try to stimulate tolerance towards minority groups.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1053-1072 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | British Journal of Social Psychology |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 30 Dec 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.
Funding
This research has been funded by the Science Academy Young Scientists Award Program (BAGEP) 2021 as awarded to the second author.
Funders | Funder number |
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Science Academy Young Scientists Award Program |
Keywords
- acceptance
- discrimination
- intergroup toleration
- refugees
- threat