Abstract: Since the unification of the two German states in 1990, antisemitic attitudes have been repeatedly polled in cross-sectional or longitudinal national surveys (e.g., the long-term GFE surveys). So far, comparative studies analyzing the development of antisemitism in East and West Germany over a longer time period are scarce. The study covers a time span of 30 years to investigate two forms of antisemitism (classical and secondary), especially with respect to inner-German differences. Applying model-based age-period-cohort analyses (APC) with a total of 19 available representative surveys (maximal period: 1991–2021), theory-driven hypotheses are tested. The statistical approach and respective findings are discussed with emphasis on several challenges accompanying the utilized heterogenous data and different survey modes. Findings reveal that life-cycle effects play a decisive role in the attitudinal development and distribution of antisemitic attitudes. Moreover, approval of antisemitism is to some extent cohort related in both East and West Germany, while disentangling period effects empirically poses challenges due to data limitations. Furthermore, the observed APC structures differ for classical and secondary antisemitism. The chapter concludes with a critical discussion of the results, limitations, and some further thoughts on the open science philosophy in applied social science research.
Abstract: In research on antisemitism related to Germany generally four subdimensions of hatred towards Jews are differentiate: (a) the anti-Judaism related to the Christian religion, (b) the biologically argued racial antisemitism, (c) secondary Antisemitism, and (d) antisemitism presented as antizionism. The central question in relation to the shift in how antisemitic attitudes are articulated in the German population is the dispute over whether this shift consists merely in a change in how a continuing, fundamental antisemitic attitude is articulated, and whether antisemitic attitudes have merely found another avenue of communication. The overall object of the study is to explore the structures, contexts, and dynamics of antisemitism and to focus on aspects of political psychology, hence looking at mainly collective identification, defense, and projection patterns. In terms of methodology the intention is to study the project as part of a qualitative supplementary study, based on the integration concept described by Christian Seipel and Peter Rieker of a sequence of quantitative and qualitative empirical research. The supplementary study will have as its base a sub-sample extracted from the overall results of the GMF Survey 2005. An especially suitable method for this is the Structured Depth Interview since it makes possible revealing non-communicated motives—whether consciously kept quiet or unconsciously suppressed. The main goal here is to penetrate the surface structure of antisemitism, to decipher its political-psychological dynamics, and to elaborate its associative contexts.
