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Measuring Implicit British Perceptions of German Intentions in 1938–1939
Author(s) -
Winter David G.,
Sweet Brooke E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2009.00730.x
Subject(s) - german , nazism , perception , power (physics) , foreign policy , action (physics) , nazi germany , psychology , political science , social psychology , law , history , politics , archaeology , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
Implicit British perceptions of German leaders during the period September 30, 1938–September 1, 1939 (from the Munich Agreements to the German invasion of Poland) are studied with a “ratio of threat accentuation” measure. This ratio is calculated by comparing the densities of power motive imagery in two kinds of archival material: full texts of major Hitler speeches versus summaries in The Times of London, and British versus German accounts of meetings between British diplomats and major Nazi leaders. In both cases, the British ratio of threat accentuation increases following the unexpected German occupation of Prague and the rest of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939. These changes in implicit perception are congruent with changes in British explicit perceptions and foreign policy after the German action.