ABSTRACT
The way people act in a real situation cannot be measured by means of public opinion polls. Only verbal statements that can be used to ascertain their inclination to act can be gathered in this manner. In this sense, a measurement of inclination to discriminate is one attitudinal dimension. Opinions are divided among researchers of prejudice as to the extent to which attitudes influence actual behavior, since actions are carried out in a normatively determined context in which a variety of social factors function simultaneously (Benninghaus 1976; Frey 1972; McGuire 1985, 251ff.; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980). It can be assumed, however, that if a person agrees with demands for discriminatory behavior, this agreement represents a bridge to actual action and signifies the person’s conscious and emotional involvement. Support for anti-Jewish demands is thus a far better indicator of pronounced anti-Semitism than agreement with cognitive stereotypes or social distance. This can be seen in the 1987 pretest, which showed a large deviation between the popular average and those with “anti-Semitic leanings,” whose inclination to discriminate was four to five times higher.
