Jewish identity and positive distinctiveness: an exploratory study of the subjective importance of being Jewish using Q methodology

Kaplan, Steven

Jewish identity and positive distinctiveness: an exploratory study of the subjective importance of being Jewish using Q methodology

Thesis / Dissertation

1995

Abstract

By conceptualising Jews as an ethnic minority, this study attempts to assess the subjective importance of being Jewish for a sample of Jewish South Africans residing in Cape Town (n = 51 ). The psychological processes by means of which group identity may be understood are examined using Tajfel's Social Identity Theory. Three different perspectives about being Jewish are identified by means of Stephenson's Q Methodology. (0 statements are based on open-ended interviews with additional subjects who were not included in the final study (n = 14)). The three perspectives assert: (a) the importance of belonging to a Jewish group; (b) the need for individual Jews to define themselves on their own terms and; (c) the importance of literal separateness between Jews and non-Jews. It is suggested that all three perspectives may be representative of attempts at securing positive group identity and the mediating role of group affiliation is discussed in this regard. It is further argued that data may be explained in terms of : (a) the extent of group affiliation; (b) the subjective importance of the Jewish group as a social group; and (c) the possibility that subjective and individualised meanings of group identity may exist which affect the validity of the former two explanations. Considerations for future research are examined and it is argued that whichever direction such research takes (in terms of socially constructed theories and methodologies or towards a more cognitive redefinition of group and personal identity) it will have to take cognisance of the subjective importance of Jewish identity rather than assessing who is Jewish in terms of observable cultural, religious or behavioural practices.

Keywords

Research Psychology

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