In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’re looking at the values that embodied King’s life and mission to fight for civil rights nationwide. How far as a country have we come in the past half a century?
How do U.S. adults rank equality and tolerance among top values now?
To measure these personal values, which are part of what refer to as the Human Element, we use the theory of basic individual values, developed by Dr. Shalom Schwartz. He identified a set of personal values that range from individuality to humanity to creativity, duty, dependability, and, of course, tolerance and equality.
- TOLERANCE: acceptance of those who are different than you
- EQUALITY: the belief that everyone should be treated equally
Now, on MLK Day, we’re looking at the numbers and how they’ve shifted since January 2021. As of January 2022, 35% of U.S. adults now believe tolerance is an important value — which is significantly lower than 52.7% last January. However, equality is now important to 55.4% of U.S. adults, which is exactly on par with where it was last year.
This is something critical to consider: what does that mean for our future and which side of history do you want to be on?
Source: Resonate Ignite PlatformTM, January 2022
