HMN 2026: What is the New model for understanding antisemitism can serve as framework, guide for developing interventions

In a new study, researchers introduce the dual threat model of antisemitism, which highlights the central role of perceived Jewish power in fueling antisemitism, and they discuss its implications for interventions aimed at curbing antisemitism.

The study, “The Perils of Perceived Power: The Dual Threat Model of Antisemitism,” was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Reichman University, Stanford University, and Boston University and appears in American Psychologist.

“Antisemitism remains a significant issue, reflected in harmful stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and hate crimes against Jews in the United States and worldwide,” explains Taya R. Cohen, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, who coauthored the study.

“Our model offers a framework for understanding the social, psychological and ideological roots of antisemitism.”

Antisemitism is marked by two enduring paradoxes, according to the authors. First, although people typically defer to power holders, perceptions of Jews as powerful are associated with disdain rather than deference among antisemites. Second, antisemitism emerges among individuals with opposing ideological worldviews, those who strongly support societal hierarchies and those who vehemently oppose them.

To clarify these paradoxes, the authors developed the dual threat model of antisemitism, in which they explain why and how perceived power contributes to antisemitism by framing Jews as a threat to in-group dominance among supporters of social hierarchy, and simultaneously as a threat to egalitarianism among critics of social hierarchy.

Then they reviewed evidence linking both pro- and anti-hierarchy ideologies to antisemitism, and tested the model in surveys of nearly 1,800 adults in Australia, Germany, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

According to the surveys, feelings of threat underpin both paradoxes. The perceived power of Jews gives rise to two distinct kinds of threats: First, the perceived power of Jews threatens the desire of individuals with pro-hierarchy worldviews to have their in-group at the top of the hierarchy. Second, the perceived power of Jews threatens the desire of individuals with anti-hierarchy worldviews to live in an egalitarian society.

Together, the model and data demonstrate how perceived power, threat perceptions, and hierarchy-related worldviews shape antisemitic attitudes and help explain why antisemitism occurs among both supporters and opponents of societal hierarchy.

“Our work illuminates two puzzling paradoxes of contemporary antisemitism: why antisemites show disdain rather than deference to the members of a group they perceive as powerful, and why antisemitism is found among those who seek to bolster and those who want to dismantle societal hierarchies,” notes Britt Hadar, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Reichman University, who led the study.

Evan Apfelbaum also added, “Based on our findings, tailored strategies that match the specific threat each group perceives may be more effective than one-size-fits-all approaches.”

Among the study’s limitations, the authors say their model may be more broadly applicable to high-status/power groups. Nir Halevy pointed out, “It is possible that the meaning of anti-hierarchy ideology varies across contexts, which may explain the variability we observed.”

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