The Institute proposed approximating real-life conditions to visualize antisemitic reaction mechanisms.

Evidence

In the research programme published in the SPSS, a film experiment had been proposed as an example of what was, for the directors of the Institute, a new approach to the phenomenon of anti-Semitism through a series of experimental situations which approximate as closely as possible the concrete conditions of present day life', in order to visualize the mechanism of anti-Semite reactions realistically’. The idea, a favourite with Horkheimer, remained programmatic for the time being. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1515

Categorization

• XREF: This programmatic film experiment is a precursor of the empirical social psychology (Adorno’s Authoritarian Personality) the group would later produce. — connects to: The Institute’s anti-Semitism project sought to expose latent tendencies at subconscious levels — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1141; A small phenomenon like antisemitism could catalyze world war and genocide — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 10

Broader Connections

• The Institute’s anti-Semitism project sought to expose latent tendencies at subconscious levels #expands (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1141
• A small phenomenon like antisemitism could catalyze world war and genocide #complicates (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 10