Attitude survey 2022 (completed)

Report on antisemitism and Islamophobia 2022

Attitudes towards Jews were first surveyed in 2012, while towards Muslims and minorities were first surveyed in 2017. The youth survey was new in 2022.

- Overall, antisemitic attitudes are less common in the population today than ten years ago, which is a positive development. At the same time, traditional stereotypical views of Jews are as widespread as in 2017, says researcher Vibeke Moe, who has been project leader for the Norwegian Holocaust Center's work on the survey.

- Ideas about Jewish international and economic power, for example, are still relatively common, says Moe. - 14 percent of the population still supports the statement 'World Jews work in secret to promote their own interests'.

Overall, antisemitic attitudes are less common in the population today than ten years ago

Islamophobia more widespread than antisemitism

Islamophobia is far more widespread than antisemitism, but the trend is that negative attitudes towards Muslims are also decreasing. The survey shows that about one in three in the population still have prejudices against Muslims. One of the statements about Muslims that many in the population still support (33%) is "Muslims do not fit into a modern Western society".

Youth are less skeptical

Young people generally have a more positive view of both Jews and Muslims than the population as a whole. At the same time, they often interpret situations as expressions of humor. The study shows a clear gender divide, with boys far more likely to perceive different situations as a joke. A qualitative interview study has gone deeper into how young people argue for their views and what they consider to be the boundaries for unacceptable actions and expressions.

The Norwegian Holocaust Center´s opinion polls have also documented negative attitudes towards Roma for ten years (2011, 2017 and 2022). One-third of the Norwegian population does not want social contact with this minority. There is more social distance to Roma than to any of the other groups included in this survey.

The prevalence of antisemitic and anti-Muslim attitudes has decreased in Norway since 2017, but prejudice in the form of stereotypes is still widespread. Young people have a more positive view of both Jews and Muslims.
 

Jews and Muslims experience negative development

In contrast to the measured decline in negative attitudes, minorities themselves experience a negative development. A higher proportion in both samples report negative experiences, and there are more respondents in 2017 who sometimes hide their religious affiliation for fear of negative attitudes. A higher proportion of the Muslim sample has negative experiences, but a much higher proportion of Jews hide their religious affiliation.

- Increased reporting of negative experiences may reflect a generally increased awareness of discriminatory attitudes as a social problem. Attention to the problems may contribute to minorities who are exposed to such attitudes reporting negative experiences more often. The impression may also be influenced by negative expressions that are spread in digital media. Although a small proportion of the population is active in spreading hatred online, the expressions can have a very large impact and reach many, says project leader Vibeke Moe at the Norwegian Holocaust Center.

Increased reporting of negative experiences may reflect a generally increased awareness of discriminatory attitudes as a social problem