Correlates of Political Tolerance and Intolerance in the United States

The paper analyzes the factors influencing political tolerance and intolerance, utilizing data from the 2008 American National Election Studies. It examines seven commonly discussed causes—age, gender, education, religion, ideology, social capital, and perceived threat—while controlling for class and ethnicity. Findings indicate that religion, ethnicity, and particularly ideology are significant predictors of attitudes toward fringe groups, whereas class and social capital show weak correlations. Notably, only gender aligned with expected tolerance levels, prompting a reevaluation of existing research in this area.