THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, September 2, 2022 Page 19 RESEARCH | FROM PAGE 6 icans, we asked participants what they thought of “African American women/men who believe in the Bible.” This is a trait highly representative of African Americans: In the modern United States, Pew Data reveal that 77% of African Americans believe that “the Bible is the Word of God.” For Jews, we asked participants how they felt about “Jewish women/men who are strong supporters of the nation of Israel's interests.” This is a trait highly representative of American Jews, with Gallup survey estimates suggesting that 90% of Jews in the United States show support for Israel. So what happens if you ask people about African American and Jewish persons in this way? The data could not be more clear: Many liberals really dislike both African Americans and Jewish persons who possess these highly representative traits; and conservatives like them just fine. That doesn’t mean that all liberals are racist, of course. In fact, our data clearly show that certain types of authoritarian liberals are particularly prone to disliking these groups. And it is worth noting that both of the traits selected and highlighted—being religious and supporting Israel—are traits people associate with conservatives. Both African Americans and Jewish Americans also possess collective traits that, if highlighted, would lead liberals to like them more (and conservatives to like them less). So this finding is likely is more about strong partisan beliefs than about racial or ethnic groups per se. But that doesn’t make it any less meaningful. To understand how important this is, consider that extrapolating from survey data, a cautious estimate of the number of African Americans who believe in the Bible is 30 million persons, and a cautious estimate of the number of Jewish Americans who support Israel is 4 million persons. That is a lot of people—and there is a certain kind of quite pervasive liberal who is inclined to strongly dislike large groups of African Americans and Jewish Americans for those reasons. We should all care deeply about this alarming trend. When conservatives show biases against racial and minority groups, it does not matter why they do it. It is rightly called out for the bigotry and bias that it is. But we must apply an equal standard. When liberals show similar biases, we must—and with equal vigor—call out their bigotry and bias. Evidence from scientific studies reveals that when presented with traits that are representative of what those groups are actually like in reality, many liberals really dislike African Americans and Jews. It doesn’t matter which political aisle the bigot resides in; it is still bigotry all the same. - Dr. Lucian (Luke) Gideon Conway III is a Professor of Psychology and a Fellow with the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College. He is the author of over 85 articles, commentaries, and book chapters on the psychology of politics and culture. Dr. Conway’s research has been featured in major media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Huffington Post, Psychology Today, USA Today, the Ben Shapiro Podcast, and BBC Radio. Further, he has written opinion pieces for outlets such as The Hill, Heterodox Academy, and London School of Economics U.S. Centre. He is the author of the book Complex Simplicity: How Psychology Suggests Atheists are Wrong About Christianity. You can follow him on twitter @LGConwayIII, on ResearchGate, or on Google Scholar. Your Hometown News Delivered! EVERETT ADVOCATE MALDEN ADVOCATE REVERE ADVOCATE SAUGUS ADVOCATE One year subscription to The Advocate of your choice: $100 per paper in-town per year or $120 per paper out-of-town per year. Name_________________________________________ Address_______________________________________ City_______________ State_______ Zip ____________ CC# _______________________________ Exp. _____ Sec. code____ Advocate (City):___________________ Clip & Mail Coupon with Credit Card, Check or Money Order to: Advocate Newspapers Inc. PO Box 490407, Everett, MA 02149
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