Die unerträgliche Freiheit der Anderen - Studien zum überwertigen Realismus

Recent empirical analyses show that people who hold prejudices against one outgroup are likely to be prejudiced against other outgroups, too. But why do persons who discriminate against homosexuals also hold negative attitudes against Muslims, migrants, homeless people, and political activists? In this dissertation, it is argued that this tendency towards hostile attitudes against several out-groups stems from a socially demanded renunciation of autonomy which is less and less compensated for (e.g. in forms of social recognition). The individual compensates for this lack by re-interpreting the heteronomous demands of reality as the very own needs of herself/himself. The result is an over-affirmation of the status quo, which is called “exaggerated realism” by Theodor W. Adorno. According to this, facing minorities, political activists or nonconformist groups stresses the idea that the conflict between the individual’s and the society’s needs is not that irrevocably fixed as it seems to be. This insight might lead to aggressive reactions towards members of nonconformist groups. Dropouts, homosexuals, migrants who want to immigrate in order to start a new life, Muslims or Jews who indicate with their clothing a nonconformist way of life suggest that the conflict between individual and society could be dealt with differently. In derogating such outgroups the socially withheld compensation for one’s own renunciation of autonomy is–at least symbolically–restored. Thus seen, exaggerated realism can be conceived of as an identity management strategy that solves the cognitive dissonant perceptions between the individual’s needs of autonomy and the social demands to conform. Since Adorno mentions the term exaggerated realism only en passant, the term is further refined to explain authoritarianism on the one hand and the affirmation of the status quo on the other. The dissertation presents a theoretical model of exaggerated realism, sketches its potential for the analysis of prejudice and authoritarianism and presents first empirical evidences for its plausibility.