The results of studies done at different times with different respondents present, unsurprisingly, a coherent and consistent picture: Arabs are stereotyped negatively, the attitudes and emotions towards them are negative, and negative intentions are attributed to them. Main themes pertain to perceived low intelligence, primitivism, dishonesty, fanaticism, conservativism, violence and lack of value for human life. On the other hand, positive attributes are also mentioned, like hospitality, sociability and diligence (p. 228).
Professor Teichman, a clinical psychologist at Tel Aviv University, has devised a method of tracing the development of stereotypes on the basis of children’s drawings. In a decade-long research project conducted through the 1990s, she studied the perception of Arabs among Jewish-Israeli kindergarten children, and how that perception changed over the years until the subjects reached adolescence. Moustaches, guns, dark skins and menacing looks featured highly in those drawings. Her findings are similar to studies in the United States on prejudice toward blacks. The stereotypes are the most vivid among preschool children. Even before they know what an Arab (or a black) is, they have absorbed negative cultural vibes, regardless of family background or socio-economic status. So much so that even the sound of the word “Arab,” compared to “Frenchman,” for example, evokes a powerful negative reaction.
Children hear and absorb these attitudes at a very young age. As they develop cognitively, they have access to a broader range of information and their views grow more complex. Cracks begin to appear in the stereotype and as the child grows older, the picture becomes less one-sided. That is the good news. The bad news is that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to erase these first impressions altogether. The studies show that even liberal adults with moderate political views retain the negative stereotype in the back of their minds, even if they do not admit to it.
