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

University of Kentucky

Karen A. Mingst

University of Kentucky

Lee Sigelman

University of Kentucky

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.

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