Ephraim Yuchtman-Yaar

Reputation, Image, Prestige, and Goodwill: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Organizational Standing

Reputation, image, prestige, and goodwill are concepts used by different disciplines, e.g., economics, marketing, sociology, and accounting, to denote the general standing of organizations among their counterparts. In this paper, the various concepts are reviewed and compared in terms of semantics, organizational cost, determinants, and implications, among others. An interdisciplinary, multiconstituency framework of organizational standing is developed, and research propositions are delineated.

Divided yet United: Israeli-jewish Attitudes Toward the Oslo Process

This article examines Israeli-Jewish attitudes toward the Oslo process, as it has been unfolding in the years 1994-2001. We found that despite the turbulence and frequent crises associated with it, the aggregated attitudes toward the Oslo process have been remarkably stable during most of this period. We explain this stability by the persistent division of Israeli society into two entrenched publics - pro-Oslo and anti-Oslo - each of which displays distinct sociopolitical and demographic attributes. However, we have also found that, along with its bifurcated structure, Israeli-Jewish public opinion consists of yet another, unifying layer. The latter was manifested in the largely consensual reactions to critical internal and external events related to the Oslo process, as well as in common views about the existential threat posed by the Palestinians to Israels security and its continuation as a Jewish state. We discuss these results in the context of recent debate about the relevance of public opinion to foreign policymaking in general, and consider their bearing on Israeli policies regarding the Oslo process in particular.

The Latitude of Acceptance

This article answers two related questions: did the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin bring about significant changes in the attitudes of Israeli Jews toward antigovernment protest, and were there systematic group differences in these attitudes before and after Rabins assassination? The empirical findings of four public opinion surveys point to a significant decline in overall support for antigovernment protest immediately after the assassination, apparently reflecting the shock effect of the murder. The decline was noticeable across the entire spectrum of political and sociodemographic segments of the public, and the plateau attained shortly after the assassination remained almost intact afterwards. Findings also indicate significant group differences in attitudes toward political protest, especially before the assassination. The changes in attitudes were systematically related to two hypothesized influences: guilt by association and socioeconomic status.

The People's Image of Conflict Resolution

This article presents a comparison of political preferences for solutions to the Israeli-Arab conflict of three samples of respondents synchronously interviewed: Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and West Bank Arabs. The results indicate no solution is simultaneously endorsed at the grass roots by a plurality of Israeli Jews on the one hand, and Israeli Arabs or West Bank Arabs on the other. Nonetheless, both Jews and Arabs distinguish between ideal (coveted) solutions, and reality-bound ones they could live with and would accept. Within nationalities, attitudes vary to a limited extent according to social characteristics such as education and religiosity. Additionally, among Israeli Arabs attitudes are significantly affected by locality of residence, especially among rural dwellers, which is a reminder of the enduring relevance of the traditional-modern dimension of analysis for this population.

Materialism, Postmaterialism, and Public Views on Socioeconomic Policy The Case of Israel

This article is concerned with public views in Israel on a series of socioeconomic and labor market issues. The empirical findings were analyzed with the aim of exploring the nature of ideological orientations and value hierarchies underlying these public views. The main findings are that there is a major concern with economic recovery, at the expense of sensitivity to humanitarian, civil, and social problems; that there appears to be a pronounced emphasis on the need for law and order that, along with related preferences, suggests a pattern of an authoritarian variant of rightism; that a majority of the public gives priority to materialist goals; and that individual level and collectivist material orientations, while moderately interrelated, produce different patterns of socioeconomic attitudes and preferences. At the aggregate level, these findings seem counter to the stereotyped preference of the Israeli public for socialist policies, and the multidimensionality of materialist value orientations may have major implications for other postindustrial nations as well.

Political Attitudes in the Muslim World

A new look at the World Values Survey data reveals how the Muslim world’s religious context affects individual Muslims’ attitudes toward democracy.

Technological Development and the Meaning of Work: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

This paper reports the perceptions of the extent of technological change and its subjective impact among workers in five industrialized nations. We find that perceived technological change varies significantly among the surveyed publics, probably due to both the actual pace of technological change and sociocultural differences. Perceived change also varied between males and females and between blue and white-collar workers-both these variations being traceable to the structural differentiation of the labor market. The reported impacts of technological change are generally positive, with the important exception of Japanese workers, who report more job-related alienation. Here again, differences related to sex and type of job (blue vs. white collar) tend to reflect structural attributes of the occupational structure. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Some Cognitive Dimensions of the Israeli-Arab Conflict

The focus of this article is the perceived importance for Egyptians and Israelis, and subgroups within these populations, of factors influencing the outcome of the Middle East conflict. The cognitive orientations underlying these perceptions are also examined for their relevance to various attitudes related to the conflict and its potential resolution. The article is based on personal interviews of samples drawn from cross-sections of the two nationalities. The findings are discussed in terms of the sociocultural context of the two peoples.

Socioeconomic achievements of holocaust survivors in israel: the first and second genderation

This study examines the socioeconomic achievements of first and second generation Holocaust survivors who emigrated from Europe to Israel following World War II. The achievements of the two groups, as indicated by years of schooling, occupational status and salary levels, were assessed in comparison to former immigrants of the same age cohorts and ethnic origin.The findings reveal that approximately 30 years after their arrival, the Holocaust survivors were still lagging behind the earlier immigrants, due mainly to differences in return on human capital characteristics. However, the results were reversed in the second generation, with the survivors’ children performing relatively better then their Israeli- born counterparts. These findings are discussed in terms of the contrasting influences of the Holocaust and its aftermath on the economic orientations of the two generations of survivors. On a more general level this study calls attention to the concept of generation experience as a critical variable in immigration theory and research.

Risk Groups in Exposure to Terror: The Case of Israel's Citizens

This research addresses a largely ignored question in the study of terror: who are its likely victims? An answer was sought through analysis of comprehensive data on civilian victims of terror in Israel from 1993 through 2003. The chances of being killed in seemingly random terror attacks were found unequally distributed in Israeli society, but the weaker sectors were not the most vulnerable. This pattern may be attributed to the perpetration of most terror attacks in public places, where members of underprivileged groups are less likely to be. Paradoxically, ethnic segregation, gender and other forms of social exclusion and inequality may have helped to protect marginalized social groups from the risk of terror victimization.