Respect for others and its effects on social relations.

Respect for people has often been considered a fundamental aspect of our dealings in the social world. One indication of its importance is the frequent demand for respect made by people in many aspects of our day to day interactions and in public life. In the studies proposed in this application we look at respect as a general attitude that ought to be engaged in all our dealings with people. This involves recognising a fundamental equality of people just because they are human beings, of recognising their physical and psychological integrity, taking them seriously and not "putting them down". We have developed a scale to measure differences between people on this general attitude. Our studies will relate individual differences in respect to interpersonal behaviour (for example, politeness); and to intergroup behaviour (for example, derogating the other group). We will also look at the factors underlying respect for our political opponents, which is a vital party of the viability of a democracy.