Holocaust Inversion and Justification of Anti-Jewish Aggression: Evidence From Two National Surveys in Norway
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Abstract
While perpetrators of anti-Jewish harassment and violence are a small minority in democratic societies, they rely on a larger number of people who justify such aggression or silently condone it. Using data from nationally representative surveys of the Norwegian population, I report two studies investigating whether endorsement of Holocaust inversion—the belief that Israel treats Palestinians as badly as Jews were treated during World War II—is associated with (a) justification of harassment and violence against Jews and (b) refusal to take a stance against such aggression. Study 1 (N = 1,575) found support for both hypotheses. In a preregistered replication, Study 2 (N = 1,653) confirmed these results. Follow-up analyses found that endorsement of Holocaust inversion was also associated with refusal to answer questions measuring blatant antisemitic prejudice. The findings support theorizing that sees Holocaust inversion as a socially more acceptable vehicle for expressing and legitimizing antisemitic hostility.
Topics
Antisemitism: Attitude Surveys Antisemitism: Israel-Related Main Topic: Antisemitism Antisemitism: Holocaust Inversion
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Geographic Coverage
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0). This license permits copying and redistributing the work in any medium or format for noncommercial use provided the original authors and source are credited and a link to the license is included in attribution. No derivative works are permitted under this license
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Volume/Issue
81(4)
Page Number / Article Number
478–489
DOI
Bibliographic Information
Holocaust Inversion and Justification of Anti-Jewish Aggression: Evidence From Two National Surveys in Norway. 2026: 478–489. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1037/amp0001704
