Language:
English
Year of publication:
1988
Titel der Quelle:
Patterns of Prejudice
Angaben zur Quelle:
22,3 (1988) 15-21
Keywords:
Antisemitism
Abstract:
Examines data obtained in opinion polls on antisemitism carried out in West Germany between 1949-1987 showing discrepancies between actual public opinion and what people believe it to be. Projection of one's views onto others, and the tendency to believe that attitudes of others have changed less than one's own, lead to "pluralistic ignorance" of the real state of public opinion. Thus, surveys conducted in 1949 and 1952 indicated that antisemitic attitudes persisted and even increased but, as a result of official philosemitism and the taboo on public expression of antisemitism, avowed antisemites did not project their opinions onto others. In contrast, opponents of antisemitism believed that there was strong popular support for anti-Jewish incidents. 1987 polls show that both opponents of antisemitism and antisemites tend to overrate the amount of latent antisemitism present in Germany today, but extreme antisemites deny or minimize its existence.
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