7 common attitudes in intolerant people

What is the image you have of yourself? Have you ever stopped to think about how others see you? Because even if you don’t believe it, There are common attitudes in intolerant people, and maybe you, like me, can own some of them. Would you like to check it out?

It’s not easy to be really tolerant, that’s why sometimes we find surprises when we think we are. We do not always work on tolerance enough to call ourselves tolerant, because as Jaime Balmes says, “he who does not tolerate intolerance is not tolerant.” And you, do you tolerate intolerance?

Do you tolerate intolerance?

Before delving fully into this topic, I would like to suggest a simple exercise proposed by Pablo Morano, an expert in personal growth. This guide provides a series of questions that can give us a real estimate of where we would be on a supposed tolerance scale.

Are you one of those people who reject what is different? Do you disqualify other people’s ideas at the first opportunity, strange or not, even going so far as to ignore them? Are you one of those who gets upset because people with opinions different from yours have more opportunities to express them? Do you think everyone should think like you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider that you have some degree of intolerance. We talk about degrees because the normal thing is that, if we draw a segment delimited by “tolerance” and “intolerance”, we all place ourselves at some point in it. That is to say, not all of these questions would be answered towards the same pole or with the same certainty. So, We can all have greater or lesser degrees of tolerance or intolerance. depending on circumstance and personality.

Discover common attitudes in intolerant people

Regardless of other personal characteristics, There are common attitudes in intolerant people. That is to say, to a greater or lesser degree, you will find certain dispositions that will always be linked to their inflexible way of thinking. Let’s see the most striking and identifiable ones.

fanaticism

In general An intolerant person shows fanaticism when defending his or her beliefs and positions.. On a political, religious, spiritual, etc. level, he is usually unable to discuss or converse without adopting extremist thoughts, believing that his vision is the only valid one. In fact, he will try to exercise his hegemony over others and their way of seeing the world.

Psychological rigidity

Intolerant people show a certain fear of everything that is different. That is, they are rigid in their psychology, which is why it is difficult for them to accept that other people have different visions and philosophies. Thus, he marks differences and distances with what does not coincide with his way of thinking, he does not accept it and even causes him anxiety.

Psychological rigidity is related to a authoritarian behavior. The social psychologist Milton Rokeach stated that the more psychological rigidity, the more rigid our cognitive system is. AND The more rigid our cognitive system is, the less acceptance of what we do not like.. This will lead us to an intolerant attitude towards what is different.

On the other hand, Adorno and his team (1950) They came up with a theory that is still valid today. According to the author, social changes occur with such rapidity that they cause a incorrect cognitive structuring in the individual. This would cause the person to appear insecurity and anxiety, pushing him to take an authoritarian attitude to solve this insecurity and anxiety. This authoritarian attitude would lead to intolerance.

They usually show extensive, non-real knowledge in any subject.

The intolerant feels that people who are or think differently must be defended. So that, they create or invent, giving them the character of reality, theories and knowledge on matters about which they have no knowledge. In this way they do not accept or listen to points of view other than their own, and they consider that his closed attitude is justified. They may even resort to mockery or aggression if they find themselves surrounded and without arguments.

Their world is simpler and lacking nuances

An intolerant human being actually has a simpler world. That is, they do not listen, so they do not open themselves to other positions and ways of thinking. So that, your world is black or white. Ways of thinking like “you are with me or against me”, “it is ugly or pretty”, “it is wrong or accurate”, without realizing that there may be a gray scale. They need security and certainty, even if they are not real..

This is based on an internal insecurity that requires external security. Although this security is only one point of view. When someone uses a cane to walk, they know that it is just another cane, but there are many more. However, The intolerant person does not think that his point of view is just another point of view, he thinks that it is the only one.. So there is no room for interpretation or range of colors.

They are faithful to the routine

In general, They usually don’t like anything that may be unexpected or spontaneous.. They stick to their routines, something they already know and offers them security and peace of mind. Otherwise, they get stressed or frustrated very easily.

Safety at the base of everything. Routine offers security. Anything that is outside of a normal procedure can throw them off and agitate them. They do not internalize acceptance as a process of assimilating change. Things should be true to your established routines.

We can observe this in people who dine at the same place and at the same table every weekend. The day “their” table is not free, they feel discomfort and discomfort. They can lead to frustration and anger. However, it rarely occurs since they are responsible for always having the same table reserved.

Your social relationships can be complex

The lack of empathic capacity of an intolerant person can cause serious social problems.. They need to always correct, dominate and impose their point of view. This leads them to surround themselves with passive people or people with low self-esteem. With the others, their interaction ends up being impossible or very complex.

There are groups of friends in which certain conversations are prohibited or held very occasionally. The reason is that “the group intolerant” is capable of spoiling a pleasant meeting just because the rest don’t agree with your opinion. This causes the conversations to be banal and superficial in the end.

The best way to deal with it is to know that up to that moment our friend is like that, so we already know how he will react and we can anticipate his anger. We can also practice patience. Or even, with humor, pretend that he is a little “stubborn.” Being intolerant is not synonymous with being a bad person. But it can be difficult to endure. What better than humor to tell our friend to review his way of facing life!

They usually show a high level of jealousy

A bigot will hardly accept the success of anyone other than himself, because that person will always be to some degree different and, therefore, to some degree wrong. It’s more, If that individual has a more open and tolerant way of seeing the world, it will cause deep concern and discomfort.. Your anxiety levels will increase, since it is wrong from your point of view, being a possible source of jealousy.

These are common attitudes in intolerant people that usually occur to a greater or lesser extent. Do you find any that you feel afflicted with? If so, put the brakes on it without hesitation, you will be happier and your possibilities for personal enrichment will multiply.

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