US liberals judged individuals who expressed unqualified prejudice more harshly than conservatives did, but liked prejudiced individuals more when they justified antisemitism with statements about Israel, according to a recent peer-reviewed psychology study.

In two out of three experiments, anti-Jewish prejudice justified by Israel’s actions increased liking from liberals, but the “licensing effect” did not apply to conservatives. A third experiment did not find conclusive differences between liberals and conservatives.

The American Psychologist journal published the study in its June edition, an issue that focused on antisemitism. The authors were Jordan W. Moon of the UK’s University of Southampton and Brunel University of London, and Michael Barlev and Steven L. Neuberg, both of Arizona State University.

The article cited previous research that found that people “rarely express prejudices without accompanying justifications,” some of which make prejudice more socially acceptable.

The researchers defined prejudice as a negative view of a social group, or its members, regardless of the prejudice’s justifications. Liberalism and conservatism were self-reported on a scale, not defined by affiliation with political parties.

The researchers recruited 979 participants, using the online platform, Prolific, in a sample meant to resemble the broader US population. The surveys took place in late 2024, and Jewish participation was negligible, the study said.

Participants read about hypothetical individuals expressing prejudice toward minority groups — either Jews, Muslims or Black people — with or without justification for their prejudice.

For unqualified prejudice, researchers told participants that “[Name] doesn’t like Jews,” and for justified prejudice, they said, “[Name] doesn’t like Jews, because [Name] strongly disapproves of Israel and its war in Gaza.”

Prejudice against Black people was justified by a belief that they “commit crimes,” and the anti-Muslim character was prejudiced against Muslims because their “culture and........

© The Times of Israel