Should respect be earned or given and why?

26 comments

1. You get a base line. You earn the trajectory.

2. Respect is best earned. When we freely give it to people who dont deserve it, others join us based on the respect we earn and then we end up electing trudeaus the whole thing becomes a mess.

3. Respect should be given, then lost if someone enacts enough nonsense.

4. I think respect should be given just as a baseline but should be taken away if necessary hahaha

5. Everyone deserves dignity and respect.

6. Given.

7. Both. Given to all for civility. However there are some that do have to earn it imo

8. There’s respect as a person, and respect as an authority. Respect as a person is given. Respect as an authority is earned.

9. Respect as a human being? A given.

   Respect as an authority figure? Earned.

10. You need to respect people – who they are and what is important to them, until they have proven they’re not worthy of it. So, give, and then take away if needed. However, respect as anything other than just a fellow human being / member of planet Earth / etc. needs to be earned.

    For example: I respect my boss as a person and realize they have the right to make mistakes. I still think they are a good person despite those mistakes. But I do not respect them as a high-level manager at my company because of those same mistakes 😅

11. It should be that everybody automatically respects each other and then more respect can be earned

12. Both. Everybody deserves a basic level of respect, kindness and dignity.

    And there are some folks who get a little bit more respect because of their position. Clergy for example or old people tend to be respected in my culture.

    But, the highest levels of respect are reserved for those who have earned it.

13. Earned. I’ll treat everyone with decency but respect takes a lot of time and admirable traits.

14. With me it’s earned.

    There are too many shitty ppl out there to be giving it out for free.

15. I think that respect should not be treated as currency . When I think about respect being earned or given, the focus is on what I, or another party, is giving or getting. That focus feels transactional to me. I begin to focus on how the respect should be traded and not with the deeper issues of what respect is, how the idea of respect is socially and culturally affected, and how I want to be.

    For me, respect is either a feeling or a set of actions. As an emotion, respect is a combination of the feelings I have for someone (or myself) when I appreciate their and trust their decisions. As a set of actions, respect is the active istening, consideration, learning, and work that is done to practice honoring human dignity.

    Thinking of respect in this way challenges me to live my values. I act with respect even if I don’t feel it because it is who I want to be. It also reduces my worries because I know that I can’t control how others feel or act.

16. Given until proven earned. Because it’s always better to treat people according to your moral standard than theirs.

17. A little bit of both. There is an expectation in society of a certain level of respect that we grow up learning when it comes to those around us. There is the stranger level of respect, not getting in their comfort zone, not invading there space. Then there is actual respect for those in our social circle. I feel that is respect that is earned because it is a much deeper level.

18. [removed]

19. To be respected, one must be respectable.

20. Given until their actions reveal otherwise

21. I respect boundaries and peoples’ rights, but you have to earn respect as a person.

    In many circumstances, respect is often based on age. Just because I’m not younger, doesn’t mean I should be degraded for life choices or appearance, or that I should bow down and treat someone older to such high praise.

    Also, I feel like older people have a different definition of respect. I’ve been asked so many personal questions or rude questions that I really don’t owe anyone the answers to, but I’m considered rude if I don’t explain myself to someone older.

22. Always earned. ALWAYS

23. Respect should be earned! Of course you behave politely. But respect is a total other. And children deserve respect as well. Everyone is not always good. Be kind and polite, but remember respect isn’t a given. It’s earned.

24. I think you should give it to those who’ve earned it. 🙂🙃

25. I’m of the opinion that everyone deserves respect, until they do something to lose it.

26. People should be given the opportunity to earn your respect