Tolerance vs. intolerance: Examining attitudes of Russian educators toward political, social, and moral diversity

Tolerance is important for every society, yet it gains special urgency in nations that undergo the transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. This study examines attitudes toward social, political, and moral diversity expressed by future educators from Russia, a country which entered the 21st century facing a difficult choice: to continue along the path of adopting the liberal and pluralistic societal model of established democracies; or, once again, turn to its centuries-old authoritarian traditions and totalitarianism. Studying the attitudes of educators is especially important in this context since it can help in understanding what kind of attitudes (tolerant or intolerant) the future generations of Russians will be likely to have. Teacher attitudes have been shown to affect student attitudes and beliefs, which, in turn, influence the predominance of tolerant or intolerant attitudes in society.;Russian educators' tolerance is examined through the use of quantitative methods to determine the attitudes of future educators toward political, social, and moral diversity, to examine the level of consistency in their attitudes, and to explore the correlates of future teachers' tolerance. A survey instrument is used to collect data from 431 future teachers from two Russian teacher-training colleges. The survey is made up of 44 questions mostly adopted from American national polls. In addition to questions measuring political, social, and moral tolerance, the survey contains items measuring authoritarianism, alienation, and support for democratic values as well as several demographic questions.;Russian future educators tend to have largely intolerant attitudes on issues of political, social, and moral diversity. This is not surprising taking into account the history of Russian society and the years of forced "equality" and uniformity for all under the Soviet regime. These attitudes, however, vary somewhat by type of diversity. Russian educators seem to have the least tolerant attitudes toward political diversity and the most tolerant attitudes toward social diversity. This finding does not confirm the theory that political tolerance must take precedence over tolerance in the social and moral spheres of life in the early stages of building a democracy since political tolerance allows people to have political freedom, which in turn helps to attain social and moral rights and liberties.;The analysis of correlates of educators' tolerance conforms to expectations generated from the basic literature on tolerance. Race/ethnicity, gender, age, and religiosity have significant effects on tolerance. In addition, an individual's scores on authoritarianism and alienation scales seem to be directly related to his or her tolerance. The more authoritarian and alienated from society the person is, the less tolerant he or she seems to be. The most surprising finding in this context is the lack of strong correlation between the scale measuring general support for democratic values and the measures of tolerance. It seems that individuals who profess strong support for democracy and democratic values do not exhibit strong tolerant attitudes toward political, social, and moral diversity and vise versa.;Notwithstanding the study's many limitations, it allows a close and in-depth look at Russian future educators' tolerance. Further research is needed to explore the issues raised in this study. However, key policy implications are already clear: if Russia is to build a truly democratic society, it needs to ensure that its educators gain a more solid foundation in tolerance and convey more tolerant attitudes to their students. Otherwise, mass intolerance is likely to continue in Russia which can lead to a rebirth of the most reactionary, xenophobic, and chauvinistic types of ideas and attitudes.