The problem with that mindset is that most people don't respect people who are nice to them, most of them only respect people who are jerks and who treat them badly. How many people don't respect Jimmy Carter, but do respect Nixon? People at the bottom of the social hierarchy expect to be treated badly, and if you treat them nicely, they experience social and cognitive dissonance. They feel that if you are treating them nicely, you must be below them on the social hierarchy because only people below you treat you nicely. Similarly if someone treats you badly, they must be above you in the social hierarchy.