The Institute’s anti-Semitism research spanned character structure, childhood, propaganda, and film.

Evidence

The Berkeley Project on the Nature and Extent of Anti-Semitism. [Tasks:] (a) To establish the character structure of persons susceptible to anti-Semitism; (b) To construct an instrument for testing persons as to their susceptibility to anti-Semitism. A Study of Anti-Semitism among Children. [Task:] To discover particular childhood experiences and age periods which are significant for the development of later anti-Semitism. A Survey of Psychiatric Cases involving Race Hatred. [Task:] To discover psychodynamic mechanisms involved in anti-Semitic motivation in Jews and non-Jews (and similar mechanisms of anti-Negro and anti-White feelings with corresponding subjects). A Study of Anxiety and Social Aggression among War Veterans. [Tasks:] To study anxiety and social aggression among different groups of war veterans; to study the effect on war veterans of educational material produced by the American Jewish Committee. An Analysis of Anti-Semitic Caricature. [Task:] To determine which drives and emotions anti-Semitic caricatures try to satisfy. An Art Project to Develop a Sketch of a Fascist Agitator. [Task:] To create the visual character of an anti-Semitic agitator, which can be used for newspapers, posters, motion pictures, etc. The Preparation of a Pamphlet on Anti-Semitic Propaganda. [Task:] To produce a pamphlet which will effectively debunk the methods of anti-Semitic propaganda. A Definitive Treatise on Anti-Semitism. [Task:] To produce a scientific standard work on anti-Semitism. An Experimental Motion Picture for Measurement of Race Prejudice. [Tasks:] (a) To produce a new instrument for the testing of susceptibility to race propaganda; (b) To measure existing prejudice; (c) To gain insight into projection mechanisms. Experiments in Surveys and Testing. [Task:] To test with established methods attitudes towards the Jews and towards educational material produced by the American Jewish Committee. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 402

Categorization

• XREF: The Berkeley Project here is the direct seed of The Authoritarian Personality and the F-scale; ties to the reader’s material on the ‘Studies in Prejudice’ series.