Collective delusions like anti-Semitism persist because they function as tolerated outlets within a culture

Evidence

Anti-Semitism, as part of the cultural climate, offered a kind of recognized red-light district of legitimatized psychotic distortions' to those who were threatened by madness in such conflicts, since they had had no opportunity to develop a strong ego in the course of their socialization. This was an interesting attempt to explain the normality’ of certain collective delusions by pointing out their functionality within the existing culture. Delusions of this sort managed to remain normal because they were merely emphasizing the current cultural clichés of prejudice more clearly, in contrast to the officially dominant standards of democracy, although without abandoning those standards as rationalizations. Within the framework of his qualitative analyses, Adorno discussed the misuse of rationality to rationalize destructive tendencies as an example of a `sham trial of rationalizations’. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1793

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the ‘sham trial of rationalizations’ concept: rationality deployed to rationalize destructive impulses.
• XREF: Connects to Freudian ego-development theory and the Authoritarian Personality project’s psychodynamic framing of prejudice. — connects to: The Institute’s anti-Semitism project sought to expose latent tendencies at subconscious levels — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1141; Anti-Semitism resists rational explanation because it is a ritual of civilization — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1418; Extremist prejudice persists by insulating members from broader cultural norms. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1912 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Extremist prejudice persists by insulating members from broader cultural norms. #expands (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1912
• Cultural equilibria can lock in maladaptive paranoia and mutual suspicion #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 447
• Toleration itself can function as a subtle form of antisemitism demanding conformity #complicates (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 525