Mirror Images in Americans' Perceptions of Nations and Leaders during the Iranian Hostage Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID3917481
AuthorsPamela Johnston Conover (University of Kentucky), Karen A Mingst (University of Kentucky), Lee Sigelman (University of Kentucky)
Year1980
Volume17
Issue4
Pages325-337
Publication date1980-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/002234338001700404
OpenAlexW2137777036
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited32

The 'mirror image' - the tendency for citizens to attribute the opposite qualities to their own and a competitive nation - is studied through analysis of public opinion in the United States shortly after the onset of the Iranian hostage crisis in late 1979. The questions addressed in this study are (1) how quickly mirror image thinking can be activated, (2) whether mirror images apply to the leaders of nations as well as the nations them selves, (3) what types of traits play the most prominent role in mirror imagery, and (4) what factors predispose people to think in mirror image terms. Analysis reveals that mirror images were very common just one month after the seizure of the American hostages, that they were more commonly focused on the nations (Iran and the U.S.) than on the leaders of the nations (President Carter and Ayotollah Khomeini), that they Nere most often evaluative rather than simply descriptive, and, perhaps most interestingly, that they were expressed most frequently by more highly educated and more knowledgeable people. Discussion centers on the interpretation of these findings, especially the latter

Criminology · Interpretation (philosophy) · Mirror image · Perception · Political science · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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