Threats and Anti-Semitic Blaming

Abstract

A strategy for efficiently and effectively reducing anti-Semitic stereotyping was presented, supported by the results of a questionnaire responded to by 15 randomly selected students between the ages of 18 and 32 years, at L.I.F.E. Bible College (associated with the Pentacostal Four-Square Church) in San Dimas, CA in 1993. Relationships predicted among stereotypic blaming and related threats were supported by the data—principally, that very negative combinations of common blamings called compound blamings, e.g., “Jews are rich because Jews are more dishonest,” correlated significantly with a large group of far less negative anti-Semitic Warnings and related threats. It was argued that a single compound blaming when deconditioned in a classroom, would be more effective in reducing over-all anti-Semitic blaming than deconditioning any other blaming or by using the more traditional group discussion or lecture methods for reducing prejudicial attitudes.