Antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the effects of identity, threat, and political trust

Jaspal, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-8463-9519, 2015. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the effects of identity, threat, and political trust. Contemporary Jewry, 35 (3), pp. 211-235. ISSN 0147-1694

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Abstract

Antisemitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article is the first to present quantitative empirical survey data elucidating attitudes towards Jews and Israel among an opportunity sample of Iranians. This study examines the correlates of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Iran with particular attention to the effects of identity, threat, and political trust. Consistent with emerging research into antisemitism and anti-Zionism, there was a positive association between both forms of prejudice, suggesting social psychological overlap between the constructs. Given the pervasiveness of antisemitic and anti-Zionist representations in Iran, there were no significant differences in levels of anti-Zionism or antisemitism on the basis of gender and educational orientations. Political conservatives did manifest greater antisemitism and anti-Zionism than political reformists, although both groups scored high on these scales. There was a significant interaction effect of Iranian national identity and political trust on anti-Zionism, and a significant interaction effect of Muslim religious identity and political trust on antisemitism. Political trust was by far the most powerful predictor of both forms of prejudice, followed by the perception of identity threat. These observations are considered through the lenses of Social Identity Theory and Identity Process Theory from social psychology.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Contemporary Jewry
Creators: Jaspal, R.
Publisher: Springer
Date: October 2015
Volume: 35
Number: 3
ISSN: 0147-1694
Identifiers:
NumberType
10.1007/s12397-015-9133-6DOI
1314965Other
Divisions: Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by: Jill Tomkinson
Date Added: 15 Apr 2020 11:00
Last Modified: 15 Apr 2020 11:00
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39623

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