This book lays out the motivational basis for tolerance, the most important underlying factor that shapes people's social attitudes, and determines our ability to get along with others. Written from a psychological perspective, this is an ideal resource for students and academics in psychology, and social and political science.

Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Social beliefs Chapter 3. Acquiring Social Knowledge - the Formation of Beliefs Chapter 4. Uncertainty and Anxiety as a Source of Closed-Mindedness Chapter 5. Towards Closed-Mindedness - How People Cope With Uncertainty Chapter 6. Does Content Matter Chapter 7. Closed-Mindedness and Intolerance Chapter 8. Motivated to Achieve Certainty Chapter 9. Content Counts... for Harmonious Social Relations Chapter 10. Some Final Reflections

Malgorzata Kossowska is a full professor in psychology and Head of the Social Psychology Unit and Center for Social Cognitive Studies in the Institute of Psychology at Jagiellonian University. She is chair of the National Science Center Council, member of the Polish Academy of Science, and Member of the Executive Committee of European Association of Social Psychology. Her areas of interest include the cognitive and motivational underpinnings of complex social phenomena.

Ewa Szumowska, PhD, is a researcher at the Social Psychology Unit in the Institute of Psychology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and a member of the Center for Social Cognitive Studies Krakow, Association for Psychological Science and the European Association of Social Psychology. She studies motivation, information processing, multiple goal pursuit, and extremism.

Paulina Szwed is a researcher working at the Social Psychology Unit in the Institute of Psychology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, a member of the Center for Social Cognitive Studies Krakow and the International Society of Political Psychology. Her scientific interests are organized around motivated cognitive effort, especially in the context of cognitive dissonance reduction and dealing with uncertainty.