essay on why tolerance in a workplace is crucial

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Tolerance: a key ingredient to a healthy workplace

Why is tolerance so important in the workplace?

In a global and fast-changing world, organizations must keep pace with trends and evolve to stay relevant and ahead of their competition. One of the critical factors to their success is the ability to leverage the full potential of people. Delivering an outstanding customer experience, offering tailored solutions, and driving operating efficiency and profitability all demand teamwork, and a lack of tolerance can hinder team development and company progress. 

For businesses large and small, tolerance is essential to working toward goals and developing creative solutions to a wide range of workplace issues and difficulties. Demonstrating tolerance in the workplace requires a concerted effort to develop an understanding of another’s background, experiences, and viewpoints in order to foster mutual respect between colleagues.

Why is tolerance so important in the workplace? Keep reading this article to see the benefits of tolerance and explore the best industry practices in PayU’s example.

What is tolerance in the workplace? 

Tolerance can be defined as a fair, objective attitude toward people whose lifestyles differ from one’s own. At the personal level, tolerance means adopting an open mind in your interactions with those who differ from you because of innate and acquired characteristics. 

Although some researchers have pointed out that tolerance is related to happiness and contentment, many others have had difficulty examining the paradoxical question of whether tolerant people are happier than others or more likely to be tolerant of others’ differences.

The subject of tolerance is often surrounded by controversy as societies redefine what it means to allow others to be “others” or whether being overly tolerant exposes people to potential harm. The debate about the healthy limit of tolerance regularly emerges, prompting communities to ask where tolerance stops and indifference begins.

Why is tolerance essential in the workplace?

Tolerance is crucial in the workplace because we’re not born with prejudices. Still, as we’re exposed to society’s norms, we develop opinions and beliefs that don’t always align with those of our colleagues. 

When we adopt an attitude of inclusion and tolerance, we open up a world of possibilities: 

• open and honest communication, 
• creativity fostered by an exchange of ideas from across a broad spectrum of expertise, 
• respect and trust between individuals, 
• teamwork and coordination among professionals in the workplace, 
• loyalty and productivity.

These are all key to increasing the overall quality of teamwork and organizational efficiency.

How to foster an environment of healthy tolerance in the workplace 

Zero-tolerance policies are used to describe all-or-nothing approaches to problems. In the workplace, zero-tolerance policies involve taking action against employees for even small instances of misconduct or rule-breaking. The idea is that by enforcing consequences that show little tolerance for exceptions, your company creates a safe and productive environment where employees know exactly what’s expected of them and what they can expect from others.

Carry out an audit before implementing any new policies

Before making a move an audit needs to be conducted to evaluate how many rules apply to the employees and whether or not they’re being enforced on a regular basis. This will help determine whether creating a zero-tolerance policy is feasible. 

It’s also important to keep track of employees’ feedback on the regulations that are already in place. These insights can be used to create a zero-tolerance policy that everyone is comfortable with. 

Follow legislative guidelines for documenting infractions

Enforcing consequences for violations of existing company policies or procedures needs clear documentation. This allows having evidence in case an issue with discipline or performance reviews arises down the road. Every manager who oversees the individual should be involved in taking disciplinary action as well. When you do take that action, be sure to document the violations and follow your company’s procedures on workplace violence and unacceptable behavior. 

Lay out a zero-tolerance policy

A clear policy will set expectations for all employees on issues related to unacceptable behavior in the workplace. Three key points of a successful zero-tolerance policy are:

• Addressing issues such as acts of violence, threats, and bullying. 
• Making it clear that these types of behaviors are not acceptable in the workplace.
• Identification of consequences for violations of the zero-tolerance policy, up to and including termination.

Don’t overlook minor violations of company policies

It’s common for managers to let small infractions slide without severe consequences because they don’t want their employees to become discouraged by constant reprimands for things beyond their control. 

However, this defeats the purpose of a zero-tolerance policy. Unless the infraction is trivial, employees need to be informed that there will be some form of punishment if it happens again. 

Take immediate action

It’s easy for managers and HR staff to make threats about disciplinary actions when an employee breaks a rule. However, threats won’t have an impact anything if they aren’t enforced. Employees will quickly catch on to this and start choosing which rules they’re willing to break just so they can get away with more down the road.

After an infraction, immediate action needs to take place – a good place to start is listening to the employees’ side of the story. Also, updating employees about any new policies being considered is very beneficial, as then they can offer their input and feel included. This ensures that no misunderstandings happen later on. 

Enforce policies in a respectful manner

Although it’s important to enforce rules and regulations, it’s possible for actions to come across as overly authoritarian. When introducing policies, explaining violations in detail so employees understand exactly where they went wrong and why it isn’t acceptable according to workplace standards reduces confusion and future conflict.

Here are some respectful ways of introducing new policies: 

Introduce new rules gradually, one at a time, so employees have time to adjust. 

• Give specific examples of how a particular rule was violated instead of being vague or general.
• Provide reasons why certain actions violate existing policies, even if they’re just educated guesses.

Enhancing tolerance through zero-tolerance policies

At PayU, we have a zero-tolerance policy toward any form of prejudice against a specific race, ethnicity, persons with disabilities, or the LGBTQ+ community.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Statement is closely tied to the core values of PayU:

• Openness to the diversity of opinions that come from a medley of backgrounds and experiences,
• Upholding the integrity of every employee by being a supportive colleague and confidante, bereft of any bias,
• Displaying uninhibited courage to bring our complete honest selves to work,
• Raising a toast to every employee who can celebrate their identity and become a true ally,
• Taking complete ownership of being inclusive in our actions,
• Facilitating unprejudiced collaboration with fellow team members, leaders, merchants, and partners – irrespective of their views and choices.

Tolerance through the lens of PayUneers

What does “being tolerant” mean to PayUneers? Find out by watching this video:

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Explain why tolerance in workplace is crucial?

IELTS essay Explain why tolerance in workplace is crucial?

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Tolerance is more than putting up with things – it’s a moral virtue

Honarary Research Fellow in Psychology , Australian Catholic University

Disclosure statement

Rivka T. Witenberg received funding from Large ARC SPIRT Grant; Department of Psychology Research Support Scheme, University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University; Centre for Education for Human Values and Tolerance, Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel; The University of Melbourne Collaborative research Grant.

Australian Catholic University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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We hear a lot about tolerance these days.

Tolerance is a moral virtue best placed within the moral domain – but unfortunately it is often confounded with prejudice. Much of the psychological research about tolerance generally and about the development of children’s understanding of tolerance of others who are different from them has been examined through research about prejudice – and not through the moral domain. The assumption made is that absence of prejudice by default means a person is tolerant.

Prejudice and tolerance are actually theoretically different concepts – and not the opposite of each other. In fact, they coexist in most of us.

Tolerance is difficult to define, which may have led to limiting the study of tolerance in psychology in favour of studying prejudice. But, unlike prejudice, tolerance can be grounded in the moral domain which offers a positive approach to examining relationships between groups of people who are different from each other.

Based on its Latin origin, tolerance, or toleration as philosophers often refer to it, is most commonly viewed negatively as “putting up with” something we dislike or even hate. If a person is prepared to “put up with” something – along the lines of, I do not like the colour of your skin but I will still serve you not to lose your custom – that person is someone who does not discriminate but remains intolerant in thoughts and beliefs.

Besides, who wants to be tolerated or be “put up with”?

At the same time tolerance cannot be indiscriminate. Indiscriminate acceptance in its most extreme form could lead to recognition of questionable practice and human rights violations – for instance, child marriages and neo-Nazi propaganda.

Tolerance as a moral virtue

An alternative way for us to think of tolerance is to place it within the moral domain and recognise that it is what it is, a moral virtue.

Many recent philosophers have linked tolerance with respect, equality and liberty. Those such as Michael Dusche , John Rawls and Michael Walzer among others, argue that we should regard tolerance as a positive civic and moral duty between individuals, irrespective of colour, creed or culture.

In other words, it is a moral obligation or duty which involves respect for the individual as well as mutual respect and consideration between people. Tolerance between people makes it possible for conflicting claims of beliefs, values and ideas to coexistence as long as they fit within acceptable moral values.

So while different marriage practices fit in within acceptable moral values, sexual abuse of children is immoral and cannot be tolerated. I believe tolerance is an essential component in social unity and a remedy to intolerance and prejudice.

The idea that tolerance is a moral duty had been acknowledged by earlier civil libertarians, such as John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, John Stuart Mill and others. They argue that tolerant people value the individual, his or her independence and freedom of choice.

When tolerance is placed within the moral domain relating to fairness, justice and respect and avoiding causing harm to others, it can only be viewed as a positive moral virtue.

Psychological research supports the idea that tolerance is better placed within the moral domain. My own research with my students shows the best indicators and predictors of tolerance to human diversity are fairness and empathy.

Fairness and empathy are also very closely connected to moral development and reasoning. They are fundamental to any coherent moral philosophy.

Empathy and morality

Psychologists such as Johnathan Haidt believe empathy is the most important motivator for moral behaviour. Others such as Martin Hoffman argue empathy is a motivator of prosocial and altruistic or unselfish behaviour.

Empathic people are sensitive to the thoughts, feelings and experiences of others. They are able to place themselves in someone else’s shoes or understand how it would feel to be treated badly. Placing oneself in someone else’s shoes is the essence of tolerance.

My research shows that people of all ages including children have a strong sense of fairness and empathy towards others different from them in colour, creed or culture. They reject prejudice and intolerance between 70% and 80% of the time affirming tolerance based on fairness and empathy.

Moral values such as fairness, justice, empathy, tolerance and respect are shared, if not universal, values relevant to dealing with human diversity

Tolerance examined as separate concept could have unique implications for education and social policy. Education aimed at promoting a harmonious society could do well to focus more on the relationship between morality and tolerance. Grounding tolerance in theories of morality allows for an alternative educational approach to promote harmonious intergroup relationships.

Part of this education would involve developing a strong sense of fairness and justice and the ability to empathise with the plight of others who are different in racial characteristics, ethnicity or nationality.

This article is part of a series on public morality in 21st-century Australia.

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Tolerance, Acceptance, Understanding

...and how they differ in everyday life and in research..

Posted February 25, 2014 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

Many of my blog columns aim at clarifying concepts or shedding new light on them. For example, I have posted dozens of pieces on the race concept, aimed at disentangling biology from culture (e.g., " What Race Is George Zimmerman? "); and my book, The Myth of Race , discusses the race concept from multiple perspectives.

Occasionally, I also compare concepts related to each other—for example, envy and jealousy —for the insights that result. That is what I would like to do here, by considering tolerance and acceptance and then thinking about them in relation to understanding.

Let’s begin with some abbreviated Wikipedia definitions:

Tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit .

Tolerance is a virtue. It is a version of the golden rule in that, insofar as we want others to treat us decently, we need to treat them decently as well. It is also a pragmatic formula for the functioning of society, as we can see in the omnipresent wars between different religions, political ideologies, nationalities, ethnic groups, and other us-versus-them divisions. It is a basis for the First Amendment protections that enabled the United States to avoid the religious strife that plagued Europe for centuries. (And it is a reason to be skeptical of slogans such as “Zero Tolerance.”)

Acceptance goes a step beyond tolerance. If a sign of tolerance is a feeling of “I can live with X (behavior, religion, race, culture, etc.),” then acceptance moves beyond that in the direction of “X is OK.” You can tolerate something without accepting it, but you cannot accept something without tolerating it. For example, when a son or daughter tells a parent about an unwelcome career choice, marital partner, or sexual identity , he or she wants that information not just to be tolerated, but to be accepted.

Moving beyond tolerance and acceptance, we come to a third concept: understanding . Here is Wikipedia’s shortened definition:

Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message, whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object.

Here is the problem. It is possible to tolerate or accept someone without understanding him or her, and the same goes for tolerating or accepting a different culture. And the converse is also true. It is possible to understand a culture or a person without acceptance, or even tolerance—think, for example, of undercover spies.

It is good to know that some people are impressively free from prejudice against those with whom they have had little or no contact (or even abstract knowledge), as part of a live-and-let-live attitude toward life.

Tolerance and/or acceptance are desirable, but they are not a substitute for understanding. They are relevant for getting along with others in the world (though understanding helps), but understanding is essential for the social and behavioral sciences

This latter point may seem obvious, but it is not universally recognized in cross-cultural research. Some studies are done in the following manner:

1. An English-language personality test developed in the United States is translated into several languages.

2. The test is given to people (usually college students) in a variety of countries and languages.

3. The results are interpreted as showing specific average personality differences among cultures.

The problem with such research is that there is no research on the test in many or all of the countries studied, and there is no way of knowing whether the personality dimensions measured even exist in those cultures. For example, one could develop a test of “Americanism” and get the results for 20 countries. This would allow researchers to rank cultures on that variable, even though it is irrelevant to their existence.

I remember visiting China a number of years ago when a psychology professor there discussed his research on the “ Big Five ” personality dimensions ( openness -to-experience, conscientiousness , extraversion , agreeableness , and neuroticism —OCEAN). Many American psychologists believe that these are fundamental dimensions of personality. Yet my Chinese colleague said that his research had not found a dimension of openness, but had found a dimension of face-saving. So we can see that scores of Americans on the dimension of face-saving would be as culturally meaningless in the United States as scores of Chinese on openness-to-experience are in China.

It is good that some researchers are tolerant and accepting of other cultures, but these positive attitudes do not provide a shortcut to understanding the cultures that they include in their research.

Jefferson M. Fish, Ph.D. , is a Professor Emeritus of psychology at St. John's University. He has authored and edited 12 books, including The Myth of Race .

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Tolerance helps employees build bridges and capitalize on the differences present in the workplace, such as those related to diverse cultural backgrounds. A lack of tolerance thwarts team and company progress and encourages a breeding ground for misunderstandings and unethical behavior. For a small business, tolerance is an essential part of working toward goals and developing creative solutions to a wide range of workplace issues and difficulties. Demonstrating tolerance in the workplace requires a concerted effort to develop an understanding of another’s background, experiences and beliefs.

Lay out a zero-tolerance policy to help guide workers on issues related to unacceptable behavior in the workplace. Address issues such as acts of violence, threats and bullying. Make it clear that these types of behaviors are not acceptable in your workplace and identify consequences, up to and including termination, for violations of your zero-tolerance policy. Fostering a supportive and productive work environment requires setting expectations for all employees. Include guidance on the type of behavior you expect in your small business, such as demonstrating good manners with both internal and external contacts.

Treat others with the same respect you expect to receive in return. Following this policy allows you to see past and accept differences in both your personal life and at work. Demonstrate kindness to others and offer assistance when needed. Choose to become a leader by setting the bar high for other employees. Hold yourself to a high moral and ethical standard to avoid getting involved in difficult and precarious situations.

Make communication a priority in the workplace. Encourage employees to engage in an open dialogue with others to help gain a better understanding of their views and beliefs. Place the emphasis on polite and considerate communication, whether in-person, over the phone or through written communication.

Ask employees to reach out for help and offer support when necessary. Encourage employees to become advocates for others by reporting violations of your company’s zero-tolerance policy. Offer to help co-workers navigate difficult issues and resolve conflicts in a calm and professional manner.

• University of California, San Francisco: Zero Tolerance Standard for Workplace Violence
• The Ohio State University: Working With Diverse Cultures
• Mind Tools: Leading by Example
• Mind Tools: Good Manners in the Office

Nicole Long is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. With experience in management and customer service, business is a primary focus of her writing. Long also has education and experience in the fields of sports medicine, first aid and coaching. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Cincinnati.

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103 Tolerance Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Looking for tolerance essay topics? Writing about tolerance is easy with us! Find here top writing prompts and examples, together with topics on tolerance and respect.

🏆 Best Tolerance Essay Examples

📌 interesting tolerance essay topics, 👍 hot topics about tolerance, ❓ tolerance essay questions.

The concept of tolerance is crucial nowadays. Tolerance makes it possible for people of various races, nationalities, ages, and cultural backgrounds to peacefully coexist. In your tolerance essay, you might want to talk about why it is so important in society. Another option is to compare the levels of tolerance in various countries in the world. One more idea is to focus on the ways to promote tolerance and respect in schools, offices, and in everyday life.

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• A Visit to the Museum of Tolerance The location is an ideal place for those interested in learning about the traditional culture and history of ancient people, giving a wide view of what happened in the past and the effect and the […]
• White Women, Black Men: History and Tolerance The reasons for such changes and fluctuations may have varied from social to political and economic; and in her book White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the Nineteenth-Century South Martha Hodes undertakes the task […]
• Zero-Tolerance Policies and Student Rights One of the main arguments for the idea that ZTPs violate students’ rights is connected to instances of discrimination. In particular, they may result in students from disadvantaged groups being more likely to partake in […]
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• Ethical Issues: Risk Tolerance It might be possible to state that when it comes to issues related to risk tolerance, the ethical dimension of these issues is similar to other their dimensions in some ways, but different in others.
• European Framework National Statute for Tolerance Promotion Besides, the article with the Statute helps to clarify the main points intolerant relations between people, the development of national relations, and even the respect to migrants and other social minorities.
• Religious Pluralism and Tolerance Therefore, it is possible to state that all religions have the same goal though they may have different tools to achieve it but people should embrace the idea of religious pluralism, as it will enable […]
• Religious Tolerance and Theology Therefore, tolerance can be defined as the aspect of respecting people in their different nature and not demanding any same action from their beliefs From the Jewish perspective, extending their laws to encompass other religions […]
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• Religious Tolerance in Different Systems of Beliefs The purpose of this paper is to explore the subject of religious tolerance and its usefulness in the academic approach to the religious phenomenon.
• Linguistics: Bilingualism, Multilingualism and Tolerance In my opinion, a person with some understanding of a local language is likely to find some of the social and cultural things in a foreign country awkward or abnormal.
• Show Boat: Encouraging Tolerance In the beginning of the musical play, the fight between the characters and the disagreements that seize by the end illustrates a sense of acceptance as well as tolerance amongst the different groups by all […]
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Tolerable stress and why it belongs in the workplace

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

Small amounts of short-term stress can boost performance. But what’s the difference between tolerable stress and toxic stress?

There is a space between “too much” and “not enough” where stress can make us excellent.

Psychologists define stress as a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. In pop culture, stress is almost exclusively considered a negative but unavoidable side effect. However, the effects of stress are not always detrimental to our minds and bodies. A small amount of short-term pressure is what we call "tolerable stress".

What is tolerable stress?

There is a certain amount of stress that has a positive effect on performance. A mild to moderate amount of short-term stress can drive motivation and give you the boost of energy needed to get things done. The key to tolerable stress is that it's short term. This means after the body receives the stress-related adrenaline boost, it returns to baseline.

A recent study by The Korn Ferry Institute found that these small amounts of tolerable stress actually have a positive effect on performance. Runners get a boost of energy to win the race. Performers feel “pumped up” about an upcoming event. Extreme sports enthusiasts get excited enough to step out of the airplane. And workers? They get the motivation to complete an urgent task.

The science of stress

Simply stated, stress manifests initially as the body’s fight or flight response to a trigger. At first, the body gets a rush of epinephrine (adrenaline) which makes the heart beat faster, breathing quicken and muscles tense. Anyone who’s been in a competition, asked someone out on a date or participated in extreme sports knows that a little adrenaline is not inherently bad.

The problem occurs when we’re exposed to chronic or repeated stress. Over time, our baseline response to that stress increases. Our brains and bodies become so accustomed to a state of activation that eventually, even when a stressor goes away, we do not return to baseline levels—and we suffer the effects of allostatic overload, or the cumulative burden of chronic stress and life events.

Does good organizational stress exist?

The relationship between stress and performance is like the classic bell curve: when this stress becomes frequent or chronic, it goes from tolerable (and sometimes motivating) to toxic. In learning and development terms, it’s called the “zone of proximal development”—the Goldilocks principle of just the right amount of stress and stretch to promote learning. The “just right” point is relative, depending on skill and experience. And those who stretch too far too fast will find it counterproductive.

The good news is stress doesn’t have to be inherently negative. The bad news is many workers’ stress levels have passed the point of optimization. A recent Gallup report showed that American professionals are some of the most stressed workers in the world.

Organizational stress can come in many shapes and sizes

Competing deadlines from different stakeholders can make us feel like we’re in a lose-lose battle. Insufficient resources can make us feel backed into a corner of tough choices that sometimes can put people’s livelihoods at stake (like layoffs, paycuts, restructuring, consolidation, M&A). Lack of support from peers and superiors can make the workplace feel incredibly isolating.

Workplace stress affects our daily lives in multiple ways, from absenteeism, loss of productivity and employee turnover to rising healthcare, insurance, legal and disability expenses. And the costs are astronomical. In the United States alone, the effects of workplace stress may account for 8% of our national spending on healthcare, with actual numbers closer to $300 billion and rising.

Have your stress levels turned toxic?

Allostatic overload, or toxic stress, occurs when stress becomes too taxing for our bodies, leading to one or more of the following symptoms within 6 months of an initial stressor:

• Lack of energy
• Generalized anxiety
• Irritability
• Demoralization
• Inability to function in social or work settings
• Feeling overwhelmed by the demands of day-to-day life

Korn Ferry Institute

Empowering talent, teams and organizations to unlock their potential

Strategies to lessen toxic stress in the workplace

Organizations should aim to create a culture of authenticity and openness. Environments that foster emotional openness and create space for connection will result in more emotionally aware and available employees.

There are five domains of social experience that, when threatened, are often registered in our brains as physical danger. We tend to process social safety like a life-or-death matter because we’re likely to remember the experience of social pain over and over again. In contrast, the experience of physical pain tends to dissipate eventually. Therefore, even individual instances of threatened status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness can increase the allostatic load. Repeat these experiences often, and they almost certainly will.

Here are some ways that leaders and organizations can reduce allostatic overload for each of these five domains of social experience:

• Status : how we perceive our social standing relative to others. Perceptions of status can be elevated by giving employees opportunities to grow and develop, as well as giving positive feedback and public recognition.
• Certainty : the ability to predict future events and outcomes. Uncertainty can be reduced by building business plans, organization charts and strategy decks that clearly define expectations.
• Autonomy : perceptions of control over ourselves and others. Subtle indicators of autonomy, such as providing a choice of options, can go a long way towards increasing it.
• Relatedness : the sense of safety or belongingness with a particular social group. Perceptions of relatedness can be increased by incorporating bonding and socialization time into work life and supporting a culture that permits people to be open in sharing personal details about themselves.
• Transparency : perceptions that exchanges between individuals are conducted fairly. Increasing transparency around decision-making and establishing clear guidelines are processes and practices that support perceptions of fairness.

Where tolerable stress belongs in the workplace

Hitting the sweet spot of stress—just enough but not too much—is no simple task. Research shows that finding the right balance is likely both person-specific and task-specific. Some people may just perform better under stress than others. Some people may crest the “optimal stress” curve before others.

Skill level and task complexity are also important factors that can affect performance under stress. If something is new to us, it may provide enough challenge without additional external stressors. But if we have been performing a task for a while, it may become monotonous and routine; some external stress may provide the motivation that sparks your interest again and sustain motivation.

Navigating to the sweet spot of tolerable stress

If stress could speak for itself, it might argue that it has been the victim of character assassination. It would argue that the right amount of stress challenges us to be better.

Stress gets a bad rap—for many good reasons. The Yerkes-Dodson law, our biology, and our own experiences show us there is a tipping point. There is a space between “too much” and “not enough” where stress can make us excellent. Between the pressures of our jobs, the world, and our relationships, we’ve surpassed that point and lost sight of the balance, which has grave consequences for our physical and mental health.

But there is good news: we can combat toxic stress through small, achievable strategies. A practice as simple as making space for connection can go a long way toward reducing allostatic load—improving our physical and mental well-being. And only when we find our way back to that sweet spot of stress will we see our performance improve.

To learn more, download our whitepaper or contact us here .

Key takeaways

• How to define tolerable stress
• Signs of toxic stress levels
• How to lessen toxic stress in the workplace

Associate Researcher, Korn Ferry Institute

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The importance of tolerance in the workplace

Reverend Canon Andy Thompson explains why tolerance should be a key aspect of workplace culture across the GCC

February was a month to remember for Reverend Canon Andy Thompson, chaplain of St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi.

Not only did the book he has been working on for two years see the light of day at a special launch event at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, but a copy of the tome, Celebrating Tolerance: Religious Diversity in the United Arab Emirates , was delivered to a very special guest to the emirates.

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, was presented with a copy of the book by the UAE’s Minister of Tolerance, His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mubarak Al Nahayan, as part of his three-day visit to the UAE – the first Papal visit to the Arabian Gulf.

Sheikh Nahayan also wrote the foreword to the book, which is published by Motivate Media Group, and features a chapter on each practicing religion in the UAE, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, and various Christian faiths.

Speaking to Gulf Business ahead of the launch, Reverend Thompson explained that as well as the huge social benefits of tolerance between different cultures and religions, there is also plenty to gain for the business world.

“There have been well established studies, particularly by a scholar called Brian Grim, who has shown that where there’s religious freedom, where there’s tolerance in the corporate environment, the economy prospers,” said Rev Thompson.

“He’s done several global studies which have shown the impact of the value of tolerance is measurable in the marketplace. So it’s hugely significant that we cultivate in the business environment values of tolerance. At the end of the day the benefit is that there’s more profit.”

For Rev Thompson, the UAE has embodied tolerance in the working arena throughout its history, largely due  to its maritime tradition.

“They’ve been trading with India and Persia for centuries,” he said.

“You can’t do business with people unless you attract them, and you can’t attract them unless you’ve got a basic level of acceptance and tolerance. Tolerance is good for business.”

“Where there is ignorance there is fear, so education drives down that fear. Education and more knowledge and understanding of each other promotes a more tolerant environment.

“I think companies should have policies that promote the value of tolerance, to invest in training and products which make that value permanent to the heart of the company’s ethic.”

That value has become embedded in the UAE, according to Rev Thompson, who added that the Pope’s “significant” visit to the country “flags attention to the UAE’s commitment to the value of tolerance”.

“The UAE is defining a hopeful note for the future, for the world community, that tolerance is a value which is needed more than ever before,” he said.

“And of course Pope Francis is a man who embodies tolerance in his global ministry. So to put those two parties in the same room together is a very positive statement.”

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Integrity in the Workplace (What It Is & Why It’s Important)

A recent Global Integrity Survey from EY reported that 97% of respondents agree that integrity is a vital foundation for any corporation (Gordon, 2022).

Despite the sweeping agreement that integrity offers significant value to organizations, EY highlights a widening gap between awareness of integrity’s role in business operations and diminishing standards of conduct (Gordon, 2022).

As such, organizations must be proactive in creating a culture where integrity can take precedent.

Read on to see what integrity in the workplace looks like, the benefits of being a leader of integrity, and practical pathways to becoming more consistent.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or others adopt positive leadership practices and help organizations thrive.

This Article Contains

What is the meaning of integrity, understanding integrity in the workplace, 2 examples of moral virtues in the office, leading by example: integrity in leadership, how to promote a culture of workplace integrity, ways in which integrity at work can promote wellbeing, worksheets from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

What does it mean to have integrity? According to Peterson and Seligman (2004), integrity is a character strength involving honesty, morality, and trustworthiness.

A key feature of individuals with integrity is their ability for consistency and self-concordance — that is, alignment between their values and behaviors.

Integrity in the workplace encompasses a range of qualities and behaviors that reflect honesty, ethics, and consistency in work-based actions.

Importantly, integrity can occur at an individual level (i.e., leaders and employees can align their words and deeds; Simons, 2002) and at the organizational level (i.e., corporations can be committed to fair governance and sustainable, ethical behaviors that give back to society; Gordon, 2022).

Within the workplace, integrity can play out in a number of ways on both the individual and organizational level.

At the individual level, this may look like:

• Being honest and trustworthy
• Adhering to company values
• Being consistent
• Being professional
• Making decisions ethically

At the organizational level, this may look like:

• Building a culture of integrity through leadership
• Making ethical business decisions
• Having clear corporate social responsibility commitments
• Adhering to regulations and laws
• Operating with fair and transparent governance

In short, workplace integrity can operate on two levels: the personal integrity of each employee and the integrity of the corporation. However, there is one key behavior that characterizes both: ethical behavior that serves to uphold moral principles.

Corporations are failing to engage in integrity in a meaningful way, and as such, mismatches between senior management’s perceptions of integrity and those of the employees are widening (Gordon, 2022).

It is therefore vital to start with the basics: understanding the myriad benefits that a culture of integrity provides to an organization.

4 Reasons it is important

Integrity in the workplace is crucial for several reasons.

1. Positive work environment

A workplace culture based on integrity creates an environment that breeds positivity and support, and is one where employees feel able to work ethically and to raise concerns without fear of retaliation (Gordon, 2022).

The behavioral integrity of leaders is also directly correlated to increased organizational commitment, employee retention , and job satisfaction (Davis & Rothstein, 2006).

2. Ethical conduct and risk management

Integrity helps prevent unethical behavior such as fraud, corruption, and misconduct. Indeed, fraud and risk assessments are critical corporate integrity action points (Gordon, 2022).

When employees uphold moral principles and adhere to ethical standards, they contribute to the culture of integrity and compliance within the organization.

3. Credibility, reputation, and brand image

Integrity builds trust and confidence in coworkers, clients, and stakeholders (Engelbrecht et al., 2017).

Organizations with a reputation for integrity are also more attractive to customers, investors, and potential employees. Maintaining integrity enhances the organization’s brand image and credibility in the marketplace and reduces the severe reputational damage that can follow unethical behavior (Cialdini et al., 2004).

4. Long-term success

Organizations that prioritize integrity are more likely to achieve long-term success and sustainability (Nink & Robison, 2020). By building trust with stakeholders, maintaining ethical standards, and fostering a positive work environment, they create a solid foundation for growth and resilience.

When organizations thoughtfully take the time to plan their workplace integrity strategy, they are able to reap numerous benefits and simultaneously avoid some serious pitfalls that can have disastrous implications for brand reputation.

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Below, we outline memorable real-world examples of integrity in the work domain. What you may notice is that all of them involve a leader with unwavering integrity.

1. Ben & Jerry’s social justice campaigns

In June 2020, amid widespread protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd, Ben & Jerry’s (n.d.) released a statement addressing systemic racism and calling for concrete action to dismantle it. The statement was titled “Silence Is NOT an Option.” In the statement, Ben & Jerry’s expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and pledged to support efforts to combat racial injustice.

Ben & Jerry’s decision to speak out against racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrated incredible organizational integrity. The company aligned its actions with its values despite enormous risks to the brand, such as backlash from consumers or political scrutiny. The company chose to prioritize its principles of justice and equity.

In the years following this example, Ben & Jerry’s has continued to be vocal in its support of human rights and social justice issues.

2. Patagonia’s environmental stewardship

Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company, is well known for its commitment to environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility.

One notable example of its organizational integrity occurred in September 2022, when Patagonia founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard announced he was donating the entirety of Patagonia’s future profits to climate charities (Gelles, 2022).

Chouinard has been vocal about the urgency of addressing climate change and the importance of businesses taking responsibility for their environmental impact. This decision received widespread media coverage and praise from environmental activists, consumers, and stakeholders.

It exemplifies how integrity in the workplace can be manifested through concrete actions that align with organizational values and contribute to broader social and environmental goals.

These examples demonstrate that it is possible for organizations and leaders to do the right thing and boost their positive reputation by doing so. Yet there are as many, if not more, examples of corporations and leaders behaving badly. To combat this, companies must look to their leaders.

It is likely not surprising to hear that leaders are the vanguards of organizational culture and brand image. Therefore, leaders who live by their values and champion honesty and ethical decision-making shepherd organizations toward success.

Below, we outline the key attributes of leaders with integrity (Nink & Robinson, 2020).

1. Honesty and transparency

Leaders with integrity are honest and transparent in their communication . They share information openly, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable. They do not withhold or distort information for personal gain, and they can be trusted to make the right decisions.

2. Consistency, reliability, and accountability

When leaders are consistent with their words and actions and align their behavior with their values and principles, they demonstrate reliability.

Leaders with integrity are unwaveringly reliable. They fulfill their commitments and take responsibility for their actions and decisions. This includes being accountable for mistakes and errors, learning from them, and taking steps to rectify any negative consequences.

3. Ethical decision-making

Leaders with integrity evaluate situations and make decisions based on ethical principles, even when it might be easier to act otherwise or when facing pressure to compromise. They consider the impact of their decisions on stakeholders and society as a whole.

4. Courage and conviction

Integrity requires courage to stand up for what is right, even in the face of opposition or adversity.

Leaders with integrity have the courage to speak truth to power, uphold their principles, and defend the interests of their team and organization.

5. Respect, professionalism, and empathy

Trustworthy leaders show respect, courtesy, and empathy toward others, valuing diverse perspectives and experiences.

They listen actively, seeking to understand different viewpoints, while treating individuals with dignity and compassion. Leaders with integrity foster a positive work environment by valuing diversity, promoting inclusivity , and working tirelessly to uphold principles of equity and justice in their interactions and decision-making.

6. Leading by example

Leaders with integrity lead by example, embodying the values and behaviors they expect from others. Their actions inspire trust , credibility, and excellence in their team members, stakeholders, and the broader community.

7. Adherence to company values

Beyond self-concordance, leaders also actively align their actions with the values and mission of the organization, even when faced with difficult decisions or conflicting interests.

Overall, integrity in leadership is about being authentic, ethical, and principled in one’s conduct, and this sets the tone for organizational culture and shapes the direction and impact of the entire organization.

It is not just leaders who should bear the burden of generating and maintaining workplace integrity, though their role is integral.

All employees and the organization as a whole must work together to build a culture of integrity (Kayes et al., 2007).

Below, we look at several concrete approaches that can elevate any organization’s integrity approach.

Psychological safety

Trust is one of the foundational pillars of workplace integrity. Not surprising, trust also provides the foundation for psychological safety .

As such, one way leaders can seek to build integrity is to make the work environment safe for their employees. Psychological safety in the workplace involves leaders actively driving out fear from their team members by promoting open feedback , focusing on team relationships, rewarding failure, and showing humility.

Authenticity

To be a person of integrity involves a degree of authenticity , and to be authentic requires self-awareness of your values and beliefs . The two are inherently linked, such that authenticity can be thought of as the embodiment of an individual’s values.

According to Oyserman (2001, p. 16150), values are “priorities, internal compasses or springboards for action — moral imperatives.” So values themselves are not actions but rather guiding principles for action. Moreover, values are more than individual preferences; they are social contracts about what is right and good.

Authenticity can be further understood as the “unobstructed operation of one’s true or core self in one’s daily enterprises” (Goldman & Kernis, 2002, p. 2) and comprises four components (Kernis & Goldman, 2006):

• Self-awareness
• Unbiased processing of the self
• Self-concordant behavior
• Relational openness

To build authentic leaders, organizations could collaborate with their employees to shape company values that align with personal values and use 360-degree feedback to help build awareness.

Beyond these two specific pathways, organizations can also look to take a systematic and comprehensive approach to building integrity in the workplace by providing education and training on the “why” of integrity (the benefits) and the “why not” (the consequences for transgressions).

Integrity can further be assessed in performance metrics and built into leadership training programs. On a more systemic level, an organization’s processes and policies can be audited to focus more on ethical operating (Kayes et al., 2007).

If you’re looking for more information about authenticity, you may enjoy this TEDx talk by Herminia Ibarra on the authenticity paradox.

Earlier in the article, we outlined some of the reasons why integrity in the workplace is important. In this section, we expand on one of those reasons.

Below, we outline several ways integrity can have a positive influence on employee wellbeing.

1. Reduced stress and anxiety

In an environment where integrity is prioritized, employees experience less stress and anxiety related to ethical dilemmas or concerns about dishonesty and unfair treatment (Prottas, 2008).

When employees can rely on their colleagues and leaders to act with integrity, this reduces uncertainty and fosters a sense of psychological safety, contributing to better mental and emotional wellbeing.

2. Enhanced job satisfaction

Employees who work in an environment characterized by integrity are more likely to have greater job satisfaction and be more committed to their organization (Davis & Rothstein, 2006).

When employees trust that their organization operates with integrity and treats them fairly, employee engagement increases, leading to greater overall wellbeing.

3. Healthy relationships and collaboration

Integrity promotes healthy relationships among coworkers based on mutual respect, honesty, and trust.

Collaboration becomes more effective when built on a foundation of integrity, as employees can rely on each other to uphold shared values and work toward common goals (Edmondson, 2018).

Having positive interpersonal relationships contributes to a supportive work environment where employees feel valued, understood, and supported, enhancing their sense of belonging and wellbeing.

4. Organizational citizenship behaviors

Employees who perceive their organization as having integrity are more likely to engage in organizational citizenship behaviors, such as helping others, volunteering for extra tasks, and advocating for the organization (Dineen et al., 2006).

These behaviors contribute to a positive work environment and enhance employees’ wellbeing.

Taken together, the benefits to be gained from workplace integrity abound. Specifically, integrity promotes wellbeing by fostering trust, reducing stress, enhancing job satisfaction, facilitating healthy relationships, and fostering a positive organizational culture where employees can thrive.

17 Exercises To Build Positive Leaders

Use these 17 Positive Leadership Exercises [PDF] to help others inspire, motivate, and guide employees in ways that enrich workplace performance and satisfaction. Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

To further highlight the link between authenticity and integrity, below we outline worksheets and exercises that help leaders identify their values and lean into authentic behavior in the workplace.

One excellent way to help zone in on our authentic selves is to write a mission statement . In this worksheet, leaders are encouraged to identify what they stand for and what they plan to do.

To act with integrity relies largely on being able to uphold one’s values. In the core values worksheet, individuals are provided with an extensive list of values and invited to consider which values resonate with them.

Another important skill required in order to identify your values and core self is self-awareness. One exercise promoted to boost self-awareness is the Johari window .

Lastly, leaders may be interested in the following article on authentic leadership , which outlines the characteristic traits of authentic leaders along with exercises and training to help individuals foster an authentic leadership style .

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop positive leadership skills, check out this collection of 17 validated positive leadership exercises . Use them to equip leaders with the skills needed to cultivate a culture of positivity and resilience.

According to Nink and Robison (2020), as the world of work continues to shift in line with hastening technology, trust will become the ultimate brand attribute. Yet as it stands, only 40% of employees in the United Kingdom and 36% in the United States think their employer “would do what is right.”

This highlights a significant gap between expectations of workplace integrity and reality.

To address this gap, organizations must create a culture of integrity, where values are embodied throughout the hierarchy of the company and there is zero tolerance for noncompliance or transgressions (Kayes et al., 2007).

Leaders play a pivotal role in creating such an environment and could look toward developing their own skills of self-awareness, authenticity, and empathy.

But ultimately, integrity in the workplace is more than just a boon for businesses; it’s about building a brighter future where honesty, accountability, and ethical leadership pave the way for a stronger, more trustworthy society.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free .

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• Oyserman, D. (2001). Values: psychological perspectives. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 16150–16153). Elsevier.
• Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (vol. 1). Oxford University Press.
• Prottas, D. J. (2008). Perceived behavioral integrity: Relationships with employee attitudes, well-being, and absenteeism. Journal of Business Ethics , 81 , 313–322.
• Simons, T. (2002). Behavioral integrity. Organization Science , 1 , 20–35.

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Tough on Tolerance: The Vice of Virtue

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• Thomas Nys 2 &
• Bart Engelen 3  

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It is commonly accepted that tolerance is a virtue, a desirable character trait that should be fostered and cultivated, especially in liberal societies. In this chapter, we consider the plausibility of an alternative view, namely that tolerance is not necessarily a virtue. This view adopts a broad and normatively neutral definition of tolerance as simply meaning: deliberately refraining from intervening with conduct one finds objectionable. Moreover, if tolerance is to play an important role in the kind of liberal and pluralist democracies we are currently living in, then such a broad and neutral conception is much more suitable than a more narrow and normatively laden one. Tolerance can and should be something enforceable through law, which becomes difficult, if not impossible, when one understands it as a virtue.

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Athanassoulis N (2019) Virtue ethics. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://www.iep.utm.edu/virtue/ . Accessed 25 Oct 2019

Avramenko R, Promisel M (2018) When toleration becomes a vice: naming Aristotle’s third unnamed virtue. Am J Polit Sci 62(4):849–860

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Horton J (1998) Toleration. In: Craig E (ed) The Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy, vol IX. Routledge, London, pp 429–433

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Williams B (1996) Toleration: an impossible virtue? In: Heyd D (ed) Toleration: an elusive virtue. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 18–27

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Nys, T., Engelen, B. (2021). Tough on Tolerance: The Vice of Virtue. In: Sardoč, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Toleration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03227-2_30-1

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March 2, 2021

The U.S. Needs Tolerance More Than Unity

Tolerance allows us to live in harmony despite deep-seated differences

By Kumar Yogeeswaran , Levi Adelman & Maykel Verkuyten

Sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol as preparations are made prior to the 59th inaugural ceremony for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2021.

Caroline Brehman Getty Images

The 2020 United States election and the ensuing riot are further evidence—as if we needed more—of how deeply divided the country is today. The divisions are regional, ideological, cultural, moral and, some say, intractable. A team of prominent scientists recently warned of the dangers of a new foundational threat to the republic: political sectarianism , or the tendency to adopt a moralized identification with a political group and against another.

In response to this enormous divide, politicians have pushed for greater unity and a return to the bipartisanship of the past. In his inauguration speech , President Biden told the nation that “disagreement must not lead to disunion.” In the midst of a pandemic, economic collapse, political polarization, racial unrest and a climate crisis, cooperation between citizens is indeed more essential than ever. Psychological research also reveals the importance of unity in the form of a shared identity, such as belonging to the same nation, to promote trust and cooperation. However, the focus on unity is also often understood to be an argument for uniformity or assimilation to specific values and beliefs—which is not particularly realistic. In a large and diverse nation, a more practical solution to the current partisan divide is though tolerance of our differences.

Societies have relied on tolerance for millennia, in contexts as varied as ancient India during the Mauryan Empire, the Middle East during the Ottoman Empire, and Europe after the Reformation. In philosophical, political and psychological texts, tolerance refers to granting equal freedoms and rights, particularly to others whose beliefs, values, and actions we disapprove of. As President John F. Kennedy once said: “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” Tolerance does not imply compromising our values, beliefs or way of life, but rather allowing others to live life as they wish because our reasons to endure these differences (such as a respect for others’ freedom of expression) outweigh our reasons for objection.

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Tolerance functions as a barrier to discrimination . Unlike the goal of unity, tolerance does not involve compliance or social pressure, which can backfire . Instead, by asking us to reflect on internalized reasons to accept that which we disapprove of, rather than demanding people relinquish their deeply held beliefs or values, tolerance mitigates the risk of conflict in a pluralistic society.

Psychologically, tolerance can be difficult because it requires us to hold two seemingly contradictory opinions: disapproval of another’s beliefs, with simultaneous support of their equal right to express these beliefs. It is this psychological dance that makes tolerance difficult to accomplish yet also allows us to live in harmony despite deep-seated differences. Tolerance does not imply neutrality (i.e., no judgment), indifference (i.e., a “whatever” attitude) or relativism (i.e., “anything goes”) toward difference. It simply asks that people engage with differences by weighing our objections alongside reasons to permit what we might personally disapprove of. After all, an atheist is unlikely to persuade a devout Christian to abandon their religion, any more than a Christian can convince an ardent atheist about the veracity of their faith. However, despite disagreement and even disapproval, both can learn to tolerate each other’s beliefs.

Tolerance is what makes real diversity possible . By creating social spaces and norms where we can share our lives and society with people with whom we disagree, it offers room for dialogue, mutual understanding, and recognition of shared and equal citizenship of our opponents, even if we disapprove of their beliefs, practices and values. Tolerance is about respecting other people as equal citizens and human beings, not respecting their viewpoints. Disagreements about our values and beliefs are inevitable, and they are acceptable, so long as we can maintain mutual respect toward others as equal citizens and fellow human beings.

However, tolerance is possible only if we reduce moralization on every point of difference. Moralization refers to the process by which people’s preferences or previously neutral behaviors take on moral meanings . When behaviors such as eating meat, cigarette smoking, premarital sex or religious schooling become moralized, they elicit powerful moral emotions, institutional action against the behavior, and even censure or condemnation from others. Moralization is, therefore, a barrier to tolerance because perceived immorality defines the boundaries of what can be tolerated . Since people consider matters of morality as objective, absolute and beyond compromise, attaching strong moral significance to every point of disagreement and difference makes tolerance almost impossible.

Instead, it takes, for example, intellectual humility (i.e., a degree to which people recognize their beliefs could be wrong), wise reasoning (i.e., understanding the intertwined nature of human life, and knowledge about oneself alongside one’s limitations) or dialectical thinking (i.e., tolerance for seemingly contradictory beliefs) to make tolerance possible. By encouraging people to balance reasons for disapproval against reasons to tolerate that which we disapprove of, tolerance makes dialogue and debate possible.

It’s also essential that our political leaders and institutions do their part to promote social norms around toleration of differences. This can be done, for example, by national and community level leadership demonstrating a willingness to disagree, debate, and endure differences. Moreover, institutions can establish inclusive social norms with egalitarian citizenship regimes that allow for differences to be expressed, even if these are only tolerated. Such norms can collectively help us learn how to live together despite our differences.

In a nation divided between two almost equally powerful political factions, tolerance is a necessity for avoiding future conflict . Neither side of the political divide is going to vanquish the other, or eradicate opposing beliefs, practices and values entirely. Calls for unity by leaders and institutions are a marked improvement from messages of division. However, tolerance is going to be a more realistic, and more effective, strategy for addressing irreconcilable divisions stemming from ideological, religious, cultural and moral differences that are inevitable in a large, free, pluralistic nation.

Kumar Yogeeswaran is an associate professor of social psychology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His primary research is on the topics of diversity, social identity, implicit bias, and intergroup conflict in pluralistic nations.

Levi Adelman is a postdoctoral scholar at the European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER) at Utrecht University, Netherlands. His research examines the psychology of in-group criticism and intergroup toleration.

Maykel Verkuyten is a professor of interdisciplinary social science at Utrecht University, Netherlands and former academic director at the European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER). His research focuses on the topics of intergroup relations, and ethnic, religious and national identities.

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By Sarah Peterson

Originally published in July 2003, Current Implications added by Heidi Burgess in December, 2019

Current Implications

When Sarah wrote this essay in 2003, social media existed, but it hadn't yet become popular or widespread.  Facebook and Twitter hadn't started yet (Facebook started in 2004, Twitter in 2006.)  More .... 

What is Tolerance?

Tolerance is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live and let others live. It is the ability to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality, and so on differ from one's own.[1] As William Ury notes, "tolerance is not just agreeing with one another or remaining indifferent in the face of injustice, but rather showing respect for the essential humanity in every person."[2]

Intolerance is the failure to appreciate and respect the practices, opinions and beliefs of another group. For instance, there is a high degree of intolerance between Israeli Jews and Palestinians who are at odds over issues of identity , security , self-determination , statehood, the right of return for refugees, the status of Jerusalem and many other issues. The result is continuing intergroup conflict and violence .

Why Does Tolerance Matter?

At a post-9/11 conference on multiculturalism in the United States, participants asked, "How can we be tolerant of those who are intolerant of us?"[3] For many, tolerating intolerance is neither acceptable nor possible.

Though tolerance may seem an impossible exercise in certain situations -- as illustrated by Hobbes in the inset box on the right -- being tolerant, nonetheless, remains key to easing hostile tensions between groups and to helping communities move past intractable conflict. That is because tolerance is integral to different groups relating to one another in a respectful and understanding way. In cases where communities have been deeply entrenched in violent conflict, being tolerant helps the affected groups endure the pain of the past and resolve their differences. In Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis have tolerated a reconciliation process , which has helped them to work through their anger and resentment towards one another.

The Origins of Intolerance

In situations where conditions are economically depressed and politically charged, groups and individuals may find it hard to tolerate those that are different from them or have caused them harm. In such cases, discrimination, dehumanization, repression, and violence may occur. This can be seen in the context of Kosovo, where Kosovar Alabanians, grappling with poverty and unemployment, needed a scapegoat, and supported an aggressive Serbian attack against neighboring Bosnian Muslim and Croatian neighbors.

The Consequences of Intolerance

Intolerance will drive groups apart, creating a sense of permanent separation between them. For example, though the laws of apartheid in South Africa were abolished nine years ago, there still exists a noticeable level of personal separation between black and white South Africans, as evidenced in studies on the levels of perceived social distance between the two groups.[4] This continued racial division perpetuates the problems of intergroup resentment and hostility.

How is Intolerance Perpetuated?

Between Individuals: In the absence of their own experiences, individuals base their impressions and opinions of one another on assumptions. These assumptions can be influenced by the positive or negative beliefs of those who are either closest or most influential in their lives, including parents or other family members, colleagues, educators, and/or role models. 

In the Media: Individual attitudes are influenced by the images of other groups in the media, and the press. For instance, many Serbian communities believed that the western media portrayed a negative image of the Serbian people during the NATO bombing in Kosovo and Serbia.[5] This de-humanization may have contributed to the West's willingness to bomb Serbia. However, there are studies that suggest media images may not influence individuals in all cases. For example, a study conducted on stereotypes discovered people of specific towns in southeastern Australia did not agree with the negative stereotypes of Muslims presented in the media.[6]

In Education: There exists school curriculum and educational literature that provide biased and/or negative historical accounts of world cultures. Education or schooling based on myths can demonize and dehumanize other cultures rather than promote cultural understanding and a tolerance for diversity and differences.

What Can Be Done to Deal with Intolerance?

To encourage tolerance, parties to a conflict and third parties must remind themselves and others that tolerating tolerance is preferable to tolerating intolerance. Following are some useful strategies that may be used as tools to promote tolerance.

Intergroup Contact: There is evidence that casual intergroup contact does not necessarily reduce intergroup tensions, and may in fact exacerbate existing animosities. However, through intimate intergroup contact, groups will base their opinions of one another on personal experiences, which can reduce prejudices . Intimate intergroup contact should be sustained over a week or longer in order for it to be effective.[7]

In Dialogue: To enhance communication between both sides, dialogue mechanisms such as dialogue groups or problem solving workshops  provide opportunities for both sides to express their needs and interests. In such cases, actors engaged in the workshops or similar forums feel their concerns have been heard and recognized. Restorative justice programs such as victim-offender mediation provide this kind of opportunity as well. For instance, through victim-offender mediation, victims can ask for an apology from the offender and the offender can make restitution and ask for forgiveness.[8]

What Individuals Can Do

Individuals should continually focus on being tolerant of others in their daily lives. This involves consciously challenging the stereotypes and assumptions that they typically encounter in making decisions about others and/or working with others either in a social or a professional environment.

What the Media Can Do

The media should use positive images to promote understanding and cultural sensitivity. The more groups and individuals are exposed to positive media messages about other cultures, the less they are likely to find faults with one another -- particularly those communities who have little access to the outside world and are susceptible to what the media tells them. See the section on stereotypes  to learn more about how the media perpetuate negative images of different groups.

What the Educational System Can Do

Educators are instrumental in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence . For instance, schools that create a tolerant environment help young people respect and understand different cultures. In Israel, an Arab and Israeli community called Neve Shalom or Wahat Al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace") created a school designed to support inter-cultural understanding by providing children between the first and sixth grades the opportunity to learn and grow together in a tolerant environment.[9]

What Other Third Parties Can Do

Conflict transformation NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and other actors in the field of peacebuilding can offer mechanisms such as trainings to help parties to a conflict communicate better with one another. For instance, several organizations have launched a series of projects in Macedonia that aim to reduce tensions between the country's Albanian, Romani and Macedonian populations, including activities that promote democracy, ethnic tolerance, and respect for human rights.[10]

International organizations need to find ways to enshrine the principles of tolerance in policy. For instance, the United Nations has already created The Declaration of Moral Principles on Tolerance, adopted and signed in Paris by UNESCO's 185 member states on Nov. 16, 1995, which qualifies tolerance as a moral, political, and legal requirement for individuals, groups, and states.[11]

Governments also should aim to institutionalize policies of tolerance. For example, in South Africa, the Education Ministry has advocated the integration of a public school tolerance curriculum into the classroom; the curriculum promotes a holistic approach to learning . The United States government has recognized one week a year as international education week, encouraging schools, organizations, institutions, and individuals to engage in projects and exchanges to heighten global awareness of cultural differences.

The Diaspora community can also play an important role in promoting and sustaining tolerance. They can provide resources to ease tensions and affect institutional policies in a positive way. For example, Jewish, Irish, and Islamic communities have contributed to the peacebuilding effort within their places of origin from their places of residence in the United States. [12]

When Sarah wrote this essay in 2003, social media existed, but it hadn't yet become popular or widespread.  Facebook and Twitter hadn't started yet (Facebook started in 2004, Twitter in 2006.) 

In addition, while the conflict between the right and the left and the different races certainly existed in the United States, it was not nearly as escalated or polarized as it is now in 2019.  For those reasons (and others), the original version of this essay didn't discuss political or racial tolerance or intolerance in the United States.  Rather than re-writing the original essay, all of which is still valid, I have chosen to update it with these "Current Implications." 

In 2019, the intolerance between the Left and the Right in the United States has gotten extreme. Neither side is willing to accept the legitimacy of the values, beliefs, or actions of the other side, and they are not willing to tolerate those values, beliefs or actions whatsoever. That means, in essence, that they will not tolerate the people who hold those views, and are doing everything they can to disempower, delegitimize, and in some cases, dehumanize the other side.

Further, while intolerance is not new, efforts to spread and strengthen it have been greatly enhanced with the current day traditional media and social media environments: the proliferation of cable channels that allow narrowcasting to particular audiences, and Facebook and Twitter (among many others) that serve people only information that corresponds to (or even strengthens) their already biased views. The availability of such information channels both helps spread intolerance; it also makes the effects of that intolerance more harmful.

Intolerance and its correlaries (disempowerment, delegitimization, and dehumanization) are perhaps clearest on the right, as the right currently holds the U.S. presidency and controls the statehouses in many states.  This gives them more power to assert their views and disempower, delegitimize and dehumanize the other.  (Consider the growing restrictions on minority voting rights, the delegitimization of transgendered people and supporters, and the dehumanizing treatment of would-be immigrants at the southern border.) 

But the left is doing the same thing when it can.  By accusing the right of being "haters," the left delegitimizes the right's values and beliefs, many of which are not borne of animus, but rather a combination of bad information being spewed by fake news in social and regular media, and natural neurobiological tendencies which cause half of the population to be biologically more fearful, more reluctant to change, and more accepting of (and needing) a strong leader. 

Put together, such attitudes feed upon one another, causing an apparently never-ending escalation and polarization spiral of intolerance.  Efforts to build understanding and tolerance, just as described in the original article, are still much needed today both in the United States and across the world. 

The good news is that many such efforts exist.  The Bridge Alliance , for instance, is an organization of almost 100 member organizations which are working to bridge the right-left divide in the U.S.  While the Bridge Alliance doesn't use the term "tolerance" or "coexistence" in its framing " Four Principles ," they do call for U.S. leaders and the population to "work together" to meet our challenges.  "Working together" requires not only "tolerance for " and "coexistence with" the other side; it also requires respect for other people's views. That is something that many of the member organizations are trying to establish with red-blue dialogues, public fora, and other bridge-building activities.  We need much, much more of that now in 2019 if we are to be able to strengthen tolerance against the current intolerance onslaught.

One other thing we'd like to mention that was touched upon in the original article, but not explored much, is what can and should be done when the views or actions taken by the other side are so abhorent that they cannot and should not be tolerated? A subset of that question is one Sarah did pose above '"How can we be tolerant of those who are intolerant of us?"[3] For many, tolerating intolerance is neither acceptable nor possible." Sarah answers that by arguing that tolerance is beneficial--by implication, even in those situations. 

What she doesn't explicitly consider, however, is the context of the intolerance.  If one is considering the beliefs or behavior of another that doesn't affect anyone else--a personal decision to live in a particular way (such as following a particular religion for example), we would agree that tolerance is almost always beneficial, as it is more likely to lead to interpersonal trust and further understanding. 

However, if one is considering beliefs or actions of another that does affect other people--particularly actions that affect large numbers of people, then that is a different situation.  We do not tolerate policies that allow the widespread dissemination of fake news and allow foreign governments to manipulate our minds such that they can manipulate our elections.  That, in our minds is intolerable.  So too are actions that destroy the rule of law in this country; actions that threaten our democratic system.

But that doesn't mean that we should respond to intolerance in kind.  Rather, we would argue, one should respond to intolerance with respectful dissent--explaining why the intolerance is unfairly stereotyping an entire group of people; explaining why such stereotyping is both untrue and harmful; why a particular action is unacceptable because it threatens the integrity of our democratic system, explaining alternative ways of getting one's needs met. 

This can be done without attacking the people who are guilty of intolerance with direct personal attacks--calling them "haters," or shaming them for having voted a particular way.  That just hardens the other sides' intolerance. 

Still, reason-based arguments probably won't be accepted right away.  Much neuroscience research explains that emotions trump facts and that people won't change their minds when presented with alternative facts--they will just reject those facts.  But if people are presented with facts in the form of respectful discussion instead of personal attacks, that is both a factual and an emotional approach that can help de-escalate tensions and eventually allow for the development of tolerance.  Personal attacks on the intolerant will not do that.  So when Sarah asked whether one should tolerate intolerance, I would say "no, one should not." But that doesn't mean that you have to treat the intolerant person disrespectfully or "intolerantly."  Rather, model good, respectful behavior.  Model the behavior you would like them to adopt.  And use that to try to fight the intolerance, rather than simply "tolerating it." 

-- Heidi and Guy Burgess. December, 2019.

Back to Essay Top

---------------------------------------------------------

[1] The American Heritage Dictionary (New York: Dell Publishing, 1994).

[2] William Ury, Getting To Peace (New York: The Penguin Group, 1999), 127.

[3] As identified by Serge Schmemann, a New York Times columnist noted in his piece of Dec. 29, 2002, in The New York Times entitled "The Burden of Tolerance in a World of Division" that tolerance is a burden rather than a blessing in today's society.

[4] Jannie Malan, "From Exclusive Aversion to Inclusive Coexistence," Short Paper, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Conference on Coexistence Community Consultations, Durban, South Africa, January 2003, 6.

[5] As noted by Susan Sachs, a New York Times columnist in her piece of Dec. 16, 2001, in The New York Times entitled "In One Muslim Land, an Effort to Enforce Lessons of Tolerance."

[6] Amber Hague, "Attitudes of high school students and teachers towards Muslims and Islam in a southeaster Australian community," Intercultural Education 2 (2001): 185-196.

[7] Yehuda Amir, "Contact Hypothesis in Ethnic Relations," in Weiner, Eugene, eds. The Handbook of Interethnic Coexistence (New York: The Continuing Publishing Company, 2000), 162-181.

[8] The Ukrainian Centre for Common Ground has launched a successful restorative justice project. Information available on-line at www.sfcg.org .

[9] Neve Shalom homepage [on-line]; available at www.nswas.com ; Internet.

[10] Lessons in Tolerance after Conflict.  http://www.beyondintractability.org/library/external-resource?biblio=9997

[11] "A Global Quest for Tolerance" [article on-line] (UNESCO, 1995, accessed 11 February 2003); available at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/fight-against-discrimination/promoting-tolerance/ ; Internet.

[12] Louis Kriesberg, "Coexistence and the Reconciliation of Communal Conflicts." In Weiner, Eugene, eds. The Handbook of Interethnic Coexistence (New York: The Continuing Publishing Company, 2000), 182-198.

Use the following to cite this article: Peterson, Sarah. "Tolerance." Beyond Intractability . Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 < http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/tolerance >.

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• Design World

Why It’s Important to Always Use Tolerances

By Design World Staff | ❇️

By Stefan Menin, Mechanical Engineer, Ondrives U.S. Corp.

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Ambiguity is not your friend. If you leave a dimension without a tolerance, no one else will know the importance, or the unimportance, of that dimension. Not only can a lack of tolerances lead to improper fits, it will also add to delays and higher costs.

Imagine you are working on a design for a high efficiency windmill. Due to its complexities you need various custom parts, so you send out manufacturing drawings to various vendors for them to be made. Several weeks later you receive all the parts, but some do not fit.

One of your special shafts that should be 7/8 in. in diameter does not fit in its mating bearing. What happened? All the manufacturers were reputable and dealt with precision components, often used in aerospace applications. So, you grab your Vernier caliper and measure the section of the shaft only to discover that it has a diameter greater than what you requested, but by only 0.004 in. Yes, four thousandths of an inch can make a difference.

Any interference, defined here as the diameter of a hole that is smaller than the diameter of a shaft, will prevent parts from sliding together. They might have to be pressed on. If too large of an interference exists, it will degrade system performance, especially in bearings.

You specified the diameter of the shaft as 0.875 in., but the machine shop made the part to a 0.879 in. diameter. Why the difference? Some machine shops will apply a standard tolerance of 3 decimal places (±0.005) to un-toleranced dimensions, especially if they do not know the design intent.

Now, you’ve lost weeks of time while you wait for reworked parts.

Such a scenario can be avoided. While many machine shops use due diligence to verify non-toleranced dimensions, it is critical to understand the importance of tolerances, and how to use them correctly. Since parts need to be made either from larger pieces of material or built up from a powder or liquid, there’s no guarantee they will be exactly the size you want.

Fig 1. “Tolerance stack” will affect a part. Although every length dimension has the same tolerance, the tolerance between surfaces B and D can be as large as ±0.15 ( 1(b)) or as low as ±0.05 ( 1(c)), depending on the placement of the dimensions. It is up to you to decide which lengths are critical to the part’s function.

ASME Y14.5M defines tolerance as “the total amount a specific dimension is permitted to vary.” Tolerance is the difference between the maximum and minimum limits. This can be shown as upper and lower limits or an allowable amount above and below a nominal dimension. Either of these methods define the same range of allowable dimensions. In this example, a finished part is acceptable when its dimension is anywhere between 0.2498 and 0.2500 in.; outside of this range, it is rejected.

This range of allowable dimensions is the tolerance band. The larger the difference between the upper and lower limits, the larger the tolerance band, also considered a “looser” tolerance. Conversely, the smaller the difference, the smaller the tolerance band, also considered a “tighter” tolerance. Tolerances should always be used. Always. Ambiguity is not your friend. If you leave a dimension without a tolerance, no one else will know the importance, or the unimportance, of that dimension.

Benefits When used correctly, you have much to gain when using tolerances. Parts with proper tolerances will fit as desired, be it a sliding fit, or a press fit.

It can also reduce costs. With unnecessarily tight tolerances, parts become more expensive to produce; there is no reason to apply a ±0.0002 tolerance when ±0.002 will do. Also, while some manufacturers apply their own set of standard tolerances to non–toleranced dimensions, many will not begin making parts until all features are defined, consuming valuable time and possibly pushing out delivery time.

Expecting parts to be made to the machinist’s best effort is not acceptable. The machinist does not know how parts interact, nor is he or she responsible for knowing. Furthermore, one machinist’s “best effort” may be maintaining the feature to within a few ten thousandths to the dimension indicated, whereas another may make the feature 0.015 in. larger or smaller than indicated.

Tolerances should not be used with hesitation. Just because a larger tolerance band is used, it doesn’t mean that parts will be sloppily made. In fact, depending on the manufacturer’s standards, shipped parts might have even tighter tolerances than you’ve specified. One good example is a bore in a gear. The specification might be ?0.250 +0.000−0.002, but the manufacturer may manufacture the bore to a tighter tolerance of ?0.2500 +0.0000−0.0005 simply because it is the standard to the particular manufacturer and this tighter tolerance is critical to the gear cutting process.

Additionally, by using proper tolerances, the liability of making the part correctly goes to the manufacturer. If the part is within tolerance and it doesn’t fit, the manufacturer cannot be held accountable. Dimensions without tolerances, however, leave the acceptable limits open. The manufacturer is not responsible for the design intent of the parts being made, and therefore cannot determine what an acceptable tolerance should be.

Proper application of tolerances While tolerances are important, it is just as important to apply them correctly. One of the most important considerations when applying tolerances is fit. This is how shafts will fit into bearings or bushings, motors into pilot holes, and so on. Depending on your application, you might want a clearance fit to allow for expansion due to heat, a sliding fit for better positioning, or an interference (press) fit for holding capability. Information on limits and fits (among a plethora of information) can be found in the 28th edition of “Machinery’s Handbook” (ISBN 0831128003) for both U.S. Customary units and standard ISO fits.

Another consideration is how “tolerance stack” will affect the part. Suppose you have a shaft with four sections, each of different diameters, as shown in Figure 1. Although every length dimension has the same tolerance, the tolerance between surfaces B and D can be as large as ±0.15 in 1(b) or as low as ±0.05 in 1(c), depending on the placement of the dimensions. It is up to you to decide which lengths are critical to the part’s function.

Be careful when applying tolerances to radius or diameter dimensions. A tolerance on a radius will be doubled when measured as a diameter. A tolerance on a radius might be looser than intended, while one on a diameter might be tighter than intended. This effect is illustrated in figure 2(a) and 2(b). If 2(a) is used to manufacture the part, a hole diameter of 0.502 is acceptable.

Fig 2. A tolerance on a radius will be doubled when measured as a diameter. A tolerance on a radius might be looser than intended, while one on a diameter might be tighter than intended. If 2(a) is used to manufacture the part, a hole diameter of 0.502 is acceptable.

Also, you do not need to assume measurements will be rounded when determining if a part conforms to the specified tolerance. If a part is measured to be 0.2502 using a dial micrometer or other device, and the part’s dimension is supposed to be 0, the dimension is not rounded down to three decimal places, it is considered a nonconformance. ASME Y14.5M states dimensions “are used as if they were continued with zeros,” even if not shown.

You should also take into account any plating or finishing processes the part requires. A note should indicate if dimensions apply before or after them.

When using either MIN or MAX limits, ensure that if the dimension approaches infinity (in the case of MIN) or is zero (in the case of MAX), it does not hinder the design of the part. In figure 3(a) a MIN tolerance is used, possibly to ensure that there is a radius for reduction of stress concentration. However, figure 3(b) shows a dimension that is within tolerance, but may hinder the part’s function. Other features should clearly define the unstated limit.

Fig 3. With MIN or MAX limits, ensure that if the dimension approaches infinity (in the case of MIN) or is zero (in the case of MAX), it does not hinder the design of the part. A MIN tolerance can ensure that there is a radius for reduction of stress concentration. However, you can receive a part with a dimension that is within tolerance, but that may hinder the part’s function.

Both the location and size of alignment holes (such as for dowel pins) should not carry the same tolerances as clearance holes (such as for screws to go through). A certain deviation from nominal in the location of a dowel pinhole may cause your assembly to be impossible to assemble, while the same deviation in the location of clearance holes will likely cause no effect to the entire piece, except for perhaps a near-imperceptible aesthetic oddity.

While thoroughly dimensioning parts is important, take care to avoid redundancies. They may cause conflicts in inspection because certain features will be defined more than once in more than one method. If a dimension that will over define the part is desired, a reference dimension should be used, between parentheses and usually without tolerances, like dimension (M) in Figure 1(b). This dimension is derived from others or is repeated, usually in a different view.

Dimensional tolerances are key in getting parts you want. Using them appropriately will save time spent coordinating with the manufacturer, circumvent design issues, and reduce unnecessary costs.

Ondrives.US Corporation www.ondrives.us

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Very useful article. I was able to clearly understand tolerances after reading your article. Thanks, Stefan.

There are more things to know about tolerance and their benefits also. Thank you for sharing!

To the Design World team: If I had a tolerance on a length of a nut (example: plane to plane distance) and on one of the planes there is a step but the dimension falls within the called out tolerance is the part acceptable as per ASME Y14.5? Thank you

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