Young Americans Reacting to Statements about Palestine & Israel: A Mind Genomics Exploration

Abstract

Listening and reading to the partisan politics surrounding the ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis, one gets the impression that this topic is all-consuming. A study using the science of Mind Genomics reveals that most respondents from a sample of young respondents do not care about the topic, nor are engaged by anything said in the media. The Mind Genomics study combined messages, policy statements, issued by the US government, presenting small vignettes, almost as news stories. The strategy prevents the respondent from responding in a politically-correct manner. The data suggest that most of the young respondents are not interested in the topic, when the data from the total panel is reported. Two mind-sets emerged, one feeling that stability and hope will be achieved through force, the other feeling that stability and hope will be achieved through economic development. The study presents a PVI (personal viewpoint identifier) to assign new people to one of the two mind-sets. The paper finishes with a discussion of the contribution of Mind Genomics to a deeper understanding of political thought and the emerging discipline of counter-factual history.