Changing Prejudice in Hungary: A Study on the Collapse of State Socialism and Its Impact on Prejudice Against Gypsies and JewsBased on sociological surveys conducted in Hungary in 1987, 1992, and 1993, tests a theory which attributes the growth of ethnic prejudices against Gypsies and Jews in the post-communist period to the impact of economic transformations in the 1990s which brought about a deterioration in the quality of life. Hypothesizes that an individual faced with uncompensated deterioration of social production functions will blame a minority group (scapegoat) as well as find an alternative source of social approval, which leads him to overestimate his ingroup (Hungarians) and underestimate outgroups (Gypsies, Jews). However, the survey data do not support this hypothesis. The level of the respondents' social losses does not correlate significantly with the extent of their prejudice against Jews. Concludes that national identity is not used in Hungary as a vehicle to enhance social identity or produce alternative social approval. Also, groups other than Jews and Gypsies are victims of scapegoating. Therefore, the hypothesis must be rejected and other studies be taken up to account for the phenomenon of prejudice. |
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alternative production Amsterdam analysis Andorka anti-Jewish anti-Semitism became behavioral confirmation Budapest Calvocoressi causal attribution cause cent century Chapter coefficients cognitive communist covariation Csepeli Czechoslovakia dependent variable deterioration Eastern Europe economic effect ethnic hierarchy Fischer Gati German grand mean Gypsies Gypsies and Jews Habsburg Hagendoorn Hanák History of Hungary Hockenos Hoensch Hungarian society hypotheses individual ingroup intergroup Jews Kádár Lendvai living loss management Loss of Income Magyar mainly Marácz Mihok minority groups Mokken scaling nationalist negative number of items outgroups panel party period persons political positive post-communist prejudice against Gypsies production of social Psychology questions Rákosi reforms respondents result role Rumania sample Scale score Frequencies scapegoat score statistics second economy Second World Second World War situation Slovakia social approval social production functions socialist Sociological Soviet standard deviation status Szabó Table TARKI theory Thesis Publishers transformation processes Unemployed unemployment waardering