Changing Prejudice in Hungary: A Study on the Collapse of State Socialism and Its Impact on Prejudice Against Gypsies and Jews

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Thesis Publishers, 1996 - History - 200 pages
Based 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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