Tolerance and social adjustment to new norms and practices

All forms of political tolerance—political, racial, religious, and social—involve a measure of social adjustment to unconventional groups, ideas, and activities. Tolerance does not depend entirely on the generosity of those who are willing to restrain themselves from punishing and repressing those who deviate from society's norms. Rather it depends also on the ability of people to assuage fears and anxieties and to reconcile themselves to social change. Because people are able to adapt psychologically to changes in norms and practices, increases in tolerance are not necessarily accompanied by increases in self-restraint, social strain, or tension. Several illustrations of social adjustment drawn from diverse arenas are presented as well as a more exact dynamic model of how this process works.In olden days a glimpse of stocking/Was looked upon as something shocking/But now, God knows/Anything goes/Good authors, too, who once knew better words/Now only use four-letter words/Writing prose.../Anything goes. from Anything Goes, lyrics by Cole Porter