“What if our prejudices could be transformed into a force for good? Harvard social psychologist Todd Pittinsky believes that our reverence for tolerance may be misplaced. The tolerance agenda aims to improve society by eliminating negative attitudes, but has nothing to say about generating positive ones.

Pittinsky’s work focuses on what he has dubbed “allophilia,” borrowed from the Greek for “love of the other.” In survey studies that began in 2005, Pittinsky has found that high levels of allophilia for a particular group predict positive behaviors – such as donating to relevant charities and supporting sympathetic policies – significantly better than low levels of prejudice against the same group.

Pittinsky’s research suggests that negative and positive attitudes are not opposite ends of a spectrum, but at least partially independent – that all the tolerance training in the world would not instill affection for a group.” (Boston Globe)