Symmetrical and asymmetrical interethnic perception in Israel

SY~ETR~CA~

AND .~S~~~~TR~CAL LXTERETHNK PERCEPTION IN ISRAEL

Asymmetrical ethnic perception within the Israeii population has been demonstrated by several past studies. Jews of Western origin generally revealed unfavo~b~e attitudes toward Jews from Orienral origin. whereas the latter group revealed favorable attitudes toward Jews of Western origin and reiated less favorably toward themselves. The present study raises the question whether there exists an unequivocal assymmetry in interethnic perception in Israel. or whether under specific conditions, in which close contact between the groups exists. and where me status of Orientals is equal to that of the WTestemers. asymmetry might not be found. Ethnic stereotypes were investigated among 463 students in vocational high schools. The findings show the emergence of symmetrical ethnic prcep tion within that population. Symmeq hasreachedits optimal level among children of mixed parentage, who rated equally-Western or Oriental Israelis. in addition. contrary to previous resuhs. students of Oriental origin did not differ from Western students in their attitudes toward Arabs. The difference between the present study and previous studies is discussed.

A number of studies conducted in Israel have pointed to an asymmetry in interethnic perception among persons of Oriental and Western origin. Asymmetry in this case is defined as incompatibility in intergroup perception, such that persons of Western origin evaluate themselves positively and evaluate people of Oriental origin negatively, whereas persons of Oriental origin evaluate themselves negatively while evaluating people of Western origin positively. Shuval(l966) showed the asymmetry existing among Jews of North-African origin, who developed a negative self-image in line with the negative stereotype generally attributed to them by the Western Israeli subgroup. Another demonstration of an asymmetrical interethnic perception was found in a study of Rim (1968). He presented photos of men of Western and Oriental Origin to children from the second to the sixth grade, and asked them to indicate which of the photos depicted Israelis and to what extent they liked them. The children of Western as well as Oriental origin

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tended to judge the Western photos as more typically Israeli and also tended to express a better liking for them than for the Oriental photos. Asymmetry is thus clearly demonstrated. Peres ( 1968, 197 i ) analysed the relationship between Israeli Jews of Western and Oriental origin on the basis of a series of studies conducted among various groups in Israel. He found that the Oriental Israeli accepted the Westerners more than the latter were willing to accept Orientals. Orientals also tended to degrade their own self-image. Furthermore, they perceived their environment as dirty and considered it necessary to elininate their own shortcomings in order to be socially accepted by the Westerners. Peres f 1968, 197 1) also investigated the attitudes of both the Orientals and Westerners toward Arabs. He found that both groups intended to reject Arabs, the rejection being more pronounced among Orientals. He found that the Orientals tended to Aate their strong negative evaluation to their past unple~~t experiences with Arabs, but he assumes the covert reason is different. The rejectionexpresses a tendency on the part of the Orientals to disassociate themselves from the perceived Arab characteristics in their own self-image and a desire to become more Westernized. That is to say, Peres hypothesized that the hostility expressed by the Oriental Jews toward Arabs was the result of perceiving similarity rather than dissimilarity between themselves and Arabs. Contrary to the studies cited above, Gitai (1972) presented data indicating symmetrical ethnic perception. He asked members of a Boy Scout troop. composed of Western and Oriental children, to indicate the traits that characterize (1) the typical Israeli, (2) the ideal person, (3) persons of Oriental origin. and (4) persons of Western origin. He found no asymmetry in the evaluation of the ethnic groups. Those of Western origin rated the ideal person most positively, the typical fsraeli second, the typical Westerner third, and finally the Oriental who was rated far below. Those of Oriental origin, on the other hand, rated the typical Israeli most positively, next the ideal person; the Orientals appeared third. The Westerners were rated by them least positively, far below the others. In his review of the contact hypothesis, Arnir (1969, 1976) indicates that equal status and common goals within dose inter_moup contact situations have been shown to enhance intergroup acceptance. Perhaps these variables contributed to the symmetry found among the integrated Boy Scout troop. Further support for such a possibility was found in the survey conducted recently by Levy and Guttman (1974). They found a greater willingness for inter,mup m&age among Western high school

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International Journaf of Intercuttural Relations

students who had many friends from the Orientai goup, than those who had fewer friends from the Oriental group. The question is whether one can assume an unequivocal asymmetry in interethnic perception in Israel, or whether possible changes can be expected under certain conditions such as those found in the Boy Scout troop. Therefore we decided to test interethnic perception in an integrated group where close contact exists and where the Orientals have equal status with the Westerners. It was also expected that symmetry would reach its optimal level among children of interethnic parentage. This expectation was based on the contact hypothesis (Amir 1969, 19?V& according to which common goals tend to enhance inter-group acceptance. Recent data showing that couples of mixed ethnic origins were less prejudiced against other ethnic groups, than couples of similar origin (Yinon. 1975), also support this expectation. Finally, the question of whether Orientals holding status equal to that of Westerners would tend to express unfavorable attitudes toward Arabs to the same extent as the Westerners do, was investigated. METHOD

Subjects The sample included 463 eleventh grade students from three vocational high schools. These schools represent a relatively high standard of education in Israel. Of these students, 229 were of parents born in Western Europe and America, 121 of parents born in tht Middle East and North Africa; 89 of parents, one of whom at least was a native Israeli; and 24 students of mixed parentage, one of whom was an Oriental. and the other a Westerner. Procedure Questionnaires were distributed to the students in their cIassrooms. They were asked to rate members of the following four _groups: a Jew, an Arab, a Western Jew, and an Oriental Jew. They were asked to evaluate each of them by rating 13 bipolar, 7-point scaies on the following characteristics: good-bad, pretty-ugly, clean-dirty, pleasanrunpleasant, happy-sad, fair-unfair, unselfish-selfish, successfilfailing, smart-fool, strong-weak, warm-cold, active-passive, deszrucr~ve-cons~~t~ve.

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FUNJLTS Initially, a factor analysis of the ratings of the 13 traits was performed, separately for each ethnic image. The responses of alI subjects, regardless of ethnic origin, were included in the analysis. Results of the factor analysis point to one general evaluative factor, common to 12 traits, explaining 83.5% of the variance for the image of the Oriental Jew, 92.4% for the image of the Western Jew, 80.3% for the image of the Jew, and 63.4% for the image of the Arab. Based upon these results, an unweighted linear combination index was calculated for the 12 traits as preceived by each of the subjects. The unselfish-selfish scale was excluded because it did not correlate with the other traits. Table 1 presents the means of the total index for me I2 traits as rated by the- evaluating groups. A higher index represents a more positive combination. The Oriental vs. Western Jew evaluations and Arab vs. Jew evaiuations were compared separately. A two-way anaiysis of variance was performed on the interethnic indices and is presented in Table 2. The independent variables were: (1) the evaluating group origin (Oriental, Western, at least partly native Israeli, integrated); and (2) the group being evaluated (Oriental and Western) with repeated measurements on this variable. Table 2 indicates a significant main effect of the evaluators (F = 3.12; df = 3,459;p<.O5). This effect reflects the more positive evaluation of the overall interethnic image by students of integrated parents as compared with students from families of which at least one parent was born in Israel. The mean for the former =“roup is 60.48 and for the latter 56.63, the difference between these two gri~~ps being significant (r = 2.04; df = 111; p ~.001).~ A signifkant interaction was found between the evaluators and the evaluated groups, (F = 8.38; df = 3,459;pc.OOl). Inspection of Table 1 indicates that a different although symmetrical relationship exists among students of both Oriental and Western origin, toward themselves and toward persons of the other ethnic osroup. The two groups of students perceive members of their own group as more positive than members of the other group. The differences between the mean evaluations of the ethnic images by the Oriental o”roup (56.02 vs. 60.91) and the Western group (53.40 vs. 59.61) were both significant @<.OOl). Upon comparing the evaluations of students of integrated parents and students of at least one native Israeli parent, toward interethnic images, it was found that these two groups did not differentiate between persons

44

international

Mea&

Journal

of Intercultural

Relations

TABLE 1 for the Evaluation Index Groups Evaluated Jews Jews Western Oriental

Evaluating Groups Origin Oriental Western Partly native Israelib Integrated

60.91 53.40 56.60 61.04

56.02 59.81 56.67 59.91

Jew

Arab

60.00 59.03 60.70 59.45

44.16 41.59 44.65 41.50

a. Higher scores indicate a more positive evaluation b. Explanation in text.

TABLE 2 Analysis of Variance of the Evaluation Index for the Interethnic Perception with Repeated Measures on the Evaluated Groups Source

df

ss

MS

F

3.12*

Benveen Subjects

Evaluating groups (A) En& Within Subjecrs Groups evaluated (B)

AxB Error * PC.05

3 459

1241.24 6382.80

413.74 13”_._‘0

1

2.86

2.86

3 359

2018.51 36866.88

672.83 80.33

Cl.00 8.38’*

** p-c.001

of Oriental or Western origin. However, students of integrated parents perceived the Western image as more positive than Oriental students did (59.92 vs. 56.02;pc.O7). They also perceive the Oriental image more positively than did Western students (61.04 vs. 53.40, pC.001). Students having at least one native Israeli parent evaluated the Oriental image iess positively than the OrientaIs evaluated their own image (56.60 vs. 60.91, pC.001). they also rated the Western image less positively than the Westerners evaiuated their own image (56.67 vs. 59.81; pC.01). An analysis of variance was also performed on the evaluations of the Jew versus Arab images. The analysis showed a significant main effect of the nationality of the evaluee. (F = 286.16;df = 1,459;pC.OOl). All

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the respondents evaluated Jews mom positively than Arabs. No funher significant results were found in this analysis. DISCUSSION The present study as weil as that of Gitai (I 972) shows that one cannot argue for an unequivocd asymmetry in interethnic perception for the entire population in Israel. Gitai found symmetry among members of a Boy Scout troop, and the present study has also found such symmetry among students of vocational high schools. It was assumed that in both studies there exists a number of variables that Amir ( 1969) pointed to as potential facilitators of attitude change as a result of interethnic contact. Both groups enjoy close and constant contact with members of groups of origins other than their own. The status of the Orientals is not lower than that of the Westerners. The Orientals are a “visible” entity in both groups, and live with the Westerners in a cooperative intergroup situation. The latter point has been stressed by Ashmore ( 1970) as a key factor to the reduction of prejudice. Under these conditions the Orientals should not feel inferior to the Westerners and may even be proud of the fact that they have reached such a status. All subjects evaluated Jews signifxcantiy more positively than they evaluated Arabs. Contrary to Peres’ (I 97 1) report, no significant differences were found between Orientals and Westerners in evaluating Jews and Arabs. Peres suggested that his result reflects a tendency by the Orientals to dissociate themselves from the image binding them to their country of origin. We have no way of knowing whether our results imply a more favorable evaluation of Arabs on the part of the Orientals as compared with Peres’ data, or merely a tendency on the part of the Westerners to express even more unfavorable evaluations of Arabs then they did 10 years ago. The latter possibiIity could be the result of recent intensification of the Israeli-Arab confiict.? There seem to be some parallel results in studies investigating the self-image of black Americans. Previous studies found asymmetry in interethnic perception among Black and White Americans. While white Americans evaluated themselves positively and black Americans negatively, the Blacks evaluated themseives negatively and White Americans positively. Several studies conducted recently point to a change in the BIacks’ interethnic perception (e.g., Hraba & Grant. 1970; Zirkel & Moses, 197 1; Brand, Ruiz, & Padilla, 1974). Some of the explanations

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International Journal of Intercultural Relations

that have been raised by Hraba and Grant (1970) to explain their findings seem to be applicable to the present findings. as well. First, the symmetry that was found is. perhaps. limited to those groups enjoying close and constant contact. Further support for this assumption in the present study can be seen in the findings regarding students of inte_grated families. These groups represent the impact of the contact mechanism in its extreme form. Namely, students from integrated families do not discriminate between Western or Eastern images; both were positively evaluated by them. It is instructive to note that the same tendency that Yinon (1975) has shown to exist among integrated parents, also holds true for children of mixed parentage. In addition, it has been shown that students of at least one Israeli born parent, rated Western and Oriental images equally. However, they evaluated both images less positively than students of mixed parentages. It seems to us that this may reflect a tendency within second generation Israelis to dissociate themselves from terms related to the Jewish exile. Second, other explanations for the discrepancy between the present findings and those of prior studies may be the result of the different measures used. Evaluating photos, social distance scales, semantic differential technique and open-ended questions may not evoke the same responses. Brand, Ruiz, and Padilla (1974) assume that some of the variability found among previous and recent findings can be interpreted in terms of instrumentation effect. There is some evidence for such a suggestion. Using the semantic differential technique, Gitai (1972) as well as the present study, point to the existence of symmetry. Even Peres’ (1968) data indicate differences between the semantic differential and other measure devices. Although asymmetry was generally found on the semantic differential. Orientals did not distinguish between Orientals and Westerners in their evaluations, while Westerners tended to evaluate other Westerners more positively than Orientals. On the other hand, using more direct questions such as the social distance scale, asymmetry was clearly illustrated. Perhaps a disguised measure such as the semantic differential is a less committing measure than the social distance scale and therefore less sensitive to differences in interethnic perception. REFERENCES AMIR, Y. Contact hypothesis in ethnic relations. Psychological Bulletin, 1969, 5, 3 19-342. AMIR. Y. The role of intergroup contact in change of prejudice and ethnic relations. In

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P. A. Katx (Ed.), Towards rhe climinarion of Racism. N.Y .: Pergamon Press. Inc.. 1976. 245-308. ASHIMORE, R. D. The problem of intergroup prejudice. In B. C. Collins. Social Psychology. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publication Company, 1970, 245-339. BRAND, E. S., RUZ R. A.. & PADILLA. A. M. Ethnic identification and preference: A review. P@wiogical Bulletin. 1974, 8 1, 860-890. GITAI. A. The youth movement as an agent of communal integration. Megumor. 1972, 18, 402-18 (Hebrew). HR%BA. J., &GRANT, G. Black is beautiful: A reexamination of racial preference and identification. Journal of personaiity and social psychology, 1970. 16. 398-102. LEVY, S.. & GUTTMAN. L. Vaiues and artitudes of Israeli High School Youth. Jetusakm: The Israel Institute of Applied Social research, 1974 (Hebrew). PERES, Y. Ethnic identity and ethnic relations in Israel. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 1968 (Hebrew). PERES. Y. Edmic relations in Israel. Ameticen lo& of Sociology, 1971, 76. 1021-1947. RIM. Y. National stereotypes in children. Megutnor. 1968. 16, r1015 (Hebrew). SHUVAL. J. Self Rejection among No& African Immigrants to Israel. The Israel Annais of Psychiq and Related Disciplines. 1966, 4, (I). 101-l 10. YINON, Y. Authoritarianism and prejudice among married couples with similar or different ethnic origin in Israel. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1975. 37, 2 14-220. YINON. Y.. ABEND, A., & CHIRER. A. Prejudice toward Israelis of Oriental origin among Israelis of Western origin. The Journal ofSociaL Psychology. 1976. in press. NOTES The research project was supposed by the research authority of Bar&n University, Grant No. 161-36-47-O. The authors wish to thank Prof. Yehudah Amir and Dr. Harvey Babkoff for their valuable comments on the manuscripts. Comments on this paper should be addressed to 1. Schwatzwald. Dept. of Psychology. Bar-Ban University, Ramat-Jau, Israel. For calculating a critical value for the differences between two independent means. the following formula was used: dMS

within (A,

+

;,)

and for calcuiating a critical value for the differences between dependent measures the following formula was used: t a t/ZMS N

within

This finding could also be somewhat anifactual if we consider the possibility that respondents generally do not tend to use the very extreme categories in evaluation scales. It is possible that the Jew-Arab comparison yielded very low scores generated by both Western and Griental evaluators, and that no diffenrnces were found between respondents on this comparison, because of this ceiling effect.