123PSOCIAL2422-619XUniversidad de Buenos AiresArgentinapsocial@sociales.uba.ar1232225008Sin secciónThe Experience of Being Jewish: Living with Antisemitism.https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9871-3460KosdonSari M.skosdon@wi.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7857-1175KellerAlexAkeller@wi.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4338-2582BerryJack W.jwberry@samford.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5983-6978 StiverDavid J.dstiver@gtu.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3357-381XWhitefordKellykwhiteford@wi.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9173-6392O’ConnorLynn E.loconnor@wi.eduThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyCanadáThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyCanadáSamford University, BirminghamSamford University, BirminghamAlbaniaGraduate Theological Union, BerkeleyGraduate
Theological Union, BerkeleyCanadáThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyCanadáThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyThe Wright Institute, BerkeleyCanadáJanuary-June2021710107202126072021Abstract
In an anonymous online study of 242 Jewish-identified participants (71 men, 163 women, 8 other; mean age = 37.8 years) living in ethnically diverse communities we found levels of antisemitism significantly associated with depression, survivor guilt proneness, and self-hate. Involvement in the Jewish community was significantly associated with life satisfaction even when adjusting for the effects of discrimination. A subsample of 124 responded to open ended questions with narratives. Thirty percent indicated feeling unsafe when identifying as Jewish.
Resumen
En un estudio online y anónimo de 242 participantes identificados como judíos (71 hombres, 163 mujeres, 8 otros; media de edad = 37,8 años) que viven en comunidades étnicamente diversas, encontramos niveles de antisemitismo significativamente asociados con la depresión, la propensión a la culpa del sobreviviente y el odio a sí mismo. La participación en la comunidad judía se asoció significativamente con la satisfacción con la vida, incluso cuando se ajusta a los efectos de la discriminación. Una sub muestra de 124 personas respondió a preguntas abiertas con narrativas. El treinta por ciento indicó sentirse inseguro al identificarse como judío.
In the infamous 2017 demonstrations in
Virginia, White Nationalists marched to the chant: “Jews will not replace us,”
sending chills up the spines of American Jews, many of whom were born long
after World War II and who grew up believing that Jews had been thoroughly
assimilated, and antisemitism, along with slavery, was a long-dead piece of a
dark history. Ostensibly representing incipient racism focused on African
Americans, the chants were confusing to many modern Americans. In fact, even
the liberal media reporting on the demonstrations seemed to find it more
relevant to focus on “racism,” ignoring the obvious target.
Contemporary antisemitism as a global
phenomenon has been formally studied and acknowledged by the Anti-Defamation
League who estimated that one billion people hold antisemitic views. In their
2014 survey of 53,100 people in 101 countries, it was revealed that 35 % failed
to have heard of the Holocaust, and 41 % believed that Jews were more loyal to
Israel than their own country (Anti-Defamation League, 2014).
With antisemitism at the highest levels since
WWII it may be surprising that it has been relatively ignored in multicultural
literature (Fischer & Moradi, 2001; Schlosser, 2006; Weinstein &
Jackson, 2010). This lack of discourse may perpetuate the notion that
antisemitism is not a problem (Rubin, 2017). Some have asserted that this
silence is due to Jewish oppression not fitting the established analyses of
racism and economic discrimination (Altman, Inman, Fine, Ritter & Howard,
2010). That is, multiculturalism has been mainly synonymous with “people of
color” (Galchinsky, 1994), and Jews in the U.S. have
been typically categorized as White (Altman et al., 2010; Greenberg, 2013;
Singer, 2008).
While many American Jews have white skin and
have enjoyed the privileges of “passing” (Phalen, 1993), labeling Jews “White”
may be problematic and demonstrate a subtle colorblindness. The White racial
categorization implies shared history, values, and privilege among group
members (Kakhnovets & Wolf, 2011). Therefore,
being White in America may also imply that one maintains a Christian identity
(Byers & Krieger, 2007; Schlosser, 2003). Further, by labeling Jews as www,
it ironically places Jews in the same category as their White oppressors who
previously saw them as a non-White other (Langman,
1995).
When Jews are categorized as White, the history
of marginalization, ethnic identity, and discrimination are more easily ignored
and even erased (Rubin, 2017). Despite this wide-spread pretense of
color-blindness, feelings of uneasiness have been spreading through Jewish
communities as the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors have been forced to
recognize contemporary antisemitism. This study aimed to investigate the appearance
of antisemitism in the psychological life of contemporary Jews.
Method
This anonymous mixed method online study of
antisemitism surveyed 242 Jewish-identified participants from March 2019 to
June 2019. One hundred sixty-three (66.5%) participants were female; 71 (28.9%)
participants were male, and 8 (3.3%) participants identified as “other” for
gender. Participants were recruited through online Jewish web pages and social
media sources. The majority of the participants resided in the U.S (83.67%).
The mean age for the participants was 37.8 years old (SD=16.115) with a range
of 18 - 80. The majority of participants (87.4%) identified as Ashkenazi and
were well educated with 40.82 % having completed graduate level of education.
Current religious identification varied with 14.8% identifying as Modern
Orthodox, 14.2% Conservative, and 24.4% Reform.
Two instruments measuring levels of
antisemitism were included; the Jewish Ethnic Experience Scale (JEES; Kosdon, O’Connor, & Berry, 2019) developed for this
study and the Antisemitism Related Stress Inventory (ARSI; Rosen, Kuczynski,
& Kanter, 2018). Widely used and validated measures of depression, life
satisfaction, the Big Five personality factors, and levels of empathy-based
guilt were included. A subsample of 122 participants wrote narrative responses
to open-ended questions about their personal experiences as Jews.
Results
Results demonstrated a significant association
between levels of antisemitism and depression, survivor guilt proneness,
neuroticism and self-hate (See Table 1). Concealing one’s Jewish identity was
significantly associated with antisemitism, self-hate, proneness to
empathy-based guilt (survivor guilt proneness and feeling omnipotently responsible
for others) and with feeling endangered. Participants who were active in the
Jewish community were found less likely to feel it necessary to hide their
Jewish identity. Satisfaction with life was associated with levels
of involvement in the Jewish community, even when adjusting for the effects of
all other predictors. This suggested that active engagement with other
Jews modified the negative impact of discrimination. Engagement in the
Jewish community also appeared to act as a protective factor which is
consistent with the literature on other ethnic minorities. For example, a study
of American Indian/Native Alaska Communities (AIAN) indicated that while
discrimination was associated with depression, participation in traditional
practices buffered the negative impact (Whitbeck et al., 2004).
Narrative responses to open-ended questions
indicated 62% (72 people) of the subsample of 122 participants experienced
fear, 48% (57 people) verbal harassment and .08% (10 people) had been met with
physical violence. In addition, a smaller number reported being excluded
from social situations. Narratives suggested that Jews commonly evaluate
situations for signs of danger and may conceal their Jewish identity depending
on their location, the political environment, and familiarity with the people
with whom they’re interacting. As expected, those who had felt endangered
because of their Jewish identity demonstrated higher levels of depression and
self-hate, indicating internalized antisemitism. Despite the negative impact of
antisemitism, 89% (109 people) described experiencing pride in relation to
either their culture and or religion.
We also found that the shadow of the Holocaust
lingers. Forty-two percent (51) of the narratives mentioned the Holocaust. We
infer that higher levels of survivor guilt proneness may relate to parents,
grandparents or close community members literally surviving when loved ones
were killed by the Nazis. The results demonstrating the significant correlation
between concealing one’s identity and survivor guilt proneness further supports
this inference. While not all
participants were Holocaust descendants, higher levels of survivor guilt may
point to the potential potency of intergenerational trauma. When asked how they
first heard about antisemitism, one participant responded: “I learned about it
when I heard my parents talk about fleeing from different parts of Europe.”
Another reported that she knew about antisemitism because “it was embedded in [her]
family history.” These references to family history are consistent with
literature describing how trauma may be passed from generation to generation.
Adult children and grandchildren may find themselves living out aspects of the
original trauma (Braga, Mello & Fiks, 2012; De
Mendelssohn, 2008; Volkan, 2001). For example, research has demonstrated that
some children of Holocaust survivors feel pressure to console their parents,
minimize their needs, or replace those family members that were lost (Felsen,
1998; Marom, 2010). Controlled studies have also
confirmed a higher level of childhood trauma, increased vulnerability to PTSD,
psychological distress, and other psychiatric disorders amongst children of
Holocaust survivors (Scharf, 2007; Sorscher &
Cohen, 1997; Yehuda et al., 2000; Yehuda et al., 1998; Yehuda, Halligan,
Grossman, 2001).
TABLE
1: Pearson correlations between JEES and ARSI subscales and primary
psychological outcomes
JEES
Concealment
JEES
Antisemitism
JEES
Involvement
ARSI
Individual
ARSI
Collective
ARSI
Unsafe
Survivor
Guilt
.31
***
.30
***
-.08
.43
***
.30
***
.22
**
Omnip. Guilt
.16
*
.19
*
.09
.32
***
.28
***
.16
*
Self-hate
.22
**
.20
**
-.16
*
.25
***
.11
.25
***
Depression
.08
.20
*
-.18
*
.24
**
.06
.29
***
SWL
-.15
-.16
.28
***
.03
.02
-.16
Neuroticism
.14
.19
*
-.18
*
.16
*
.13
.26
**
Discussion
The results of this study suggest that antisemitism
continues to negatively impact the psychological life of Jews. In particular,
Jews experience survivor guilt proneness, self-hatred, neuroticism and
depression. Despite evidence of psychological distress and the rise of
antisemitism, Jews are resilient in that they take pride in their culture and
or religion. In fact, the more involved that they are in the Jewish community
the more satisfied they report being with their life.
While less is known about current antisemitism,
survivor guilt and psychopathology, the results of this study are consistent
with the literature on empathy-based guilt and Holocaust survivors (Hirsch,
2004). Research on the Holocaust indicates that while survivors demonstrate
tremendous resilience and coping skills, they also experienced a wide range of
negative psychological symptoms including denial, agitation, anxiety,
depression, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, psychic numbing, and survivor’s
guilt (Barocas & Barocas,
1980; Eitinger & Strom, 1973; Neiderland,
1968, 1981). Neiderland (1968) first identified these
collective symptoms as “survivor syndrome” or survivor guilt. This type of
guilt, often under the surface of conscious awareness, is based on empathy and
compassion for the suffering of others. Survivor guilt has been described as
the prosocial emotion people tend to feel when they believe that their success
will harm others, simply by comparison (O’Connor, Berry, Weiss, & Gilbert,
2002). Exploring the prevalence of survivor
guilt amongst the second generation, Hirsch (2003) discovered that children of
survivors exhibited higher levels of survivor guilt when compared to a group of
non-Jewish European Americans. The literature on survivor guilt explains that
guilt can become pathogenic when people erroneously believe they are the source
of other people’s problems or that they have the ability to relieve someone
else of their difficulties. Studies point to an association between
survivor-guilt proneness, depression, and self-hate (O’Connor, Berry, Weiss,
Bush, & Sampson, 1997).
A high drop-out rate may indicate a potentially
biased sample. Many of the participants responded to the survey on a smart
phone or other handheld device, making the survey appear longer than it
appeared on a computer and this may have discouraged participants from
completing the survey. In addition, it is likely that the study attracted
participants who were more involved in the Jewish community, while
failing to include less affiliated Jews, leading to a somewhat biased sample.
Despite these limitations, this study seems to reflect the negative impact that
emerging nationalism and tribalism may be having on Jews, along with other
ethnic and religious minorities.
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