Developing College Students’ Jewish Appreciation: A Four-year Mixed-methods Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the climates and contexts that promote college students’ development of appreciative attitudes toward Jews over four college years. Drawing on an established theoretical framework and a comprehensive literature foundation, we approached this question through an integrative mixed-methods perspective. We recruited a longitunidal sample of 9,470 students from 122 campuses in the United States and generated qualitative focus group data from 268 students at 18 campuses. Findings demonstrated that a host of student characteristics (e.g., political identification), psychological perceptions (e.g., space for support, negative engagement) and participation in formal and informal interfaith activities were associated with the development of Jewish appreciation. Meta-inferences are discussed, future directions offered, and initial conclusions provided.