20 | OCTOBER 24 • 2024 J
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re you a Jewish adult aged 18 years and 
older who can read and understand 
English? If so, you’re eligible to 
participate in a local research study about 
antisemitism. 
The purpose of this study is to scientifically 
investigate how perceived antisemitism impacts 
the mental well-being of Jewish people in the U.S.
The principal investigator is Professor Changiz 
Mohiyeddini, the course director of Behavioral 
Medicine and Psychopathology at Oakland 
University’s William Beaumont School of 
Medicine.
For potential participants: You will be asked to 
complete a survey about your experiences and 
perceptions related to antisemitism and its impact 
on your mental well-being. The online survey 
takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
You can choose to stop your participation at 
any time or skip any part of the study if you are 
not comfortable. The survey is anonymous, and 
no identifiable data that can directly be linked to 
participants are collected, minimizing any risk 
associated with confidentiality. 
The results of the study may benefit others in 
the future by providing a better understanding of 
the psychological impacts of antisemitism.
Mohiyeddini, who is Jewish, points out that 
antisemitism is normally debated within the context 
of ethics, and while “probably every sound-minded 
person would say antisemitism is inhumane, wrong 
and unethical,” there’s more to the story. 
“It’s not just about receiving a dirty look 
or someone saying mean jokes about Jews. 
Antisemitism literally kills people. It harms their 
well-being and mental health,” he says. “My 
intention is to use the most advanced scientific 
approaches we have and conduct this study to 
provide evidence that antisemitism is harmful.”
Mohiyeddini has been conducting research 
for almost three decades and has provided 
psychological and emotional support to Jews 
everywhere he’s worked as a psychotherapist. 
“I’ve noticed in my conversations when Jewish 
people talk about what they experience, starting 

at early childhood and extending to the entire 
lifespan, you can hear this pain and suffering and 
anxiety and depression that comes with it,” he said. 
While researching, Mohiyeddini says he couldn’t 
find many studies that really show the magnitude 
of the harmfulness of antisemitism. “That is why 
I talked to my colleagues, and I said let’s run this 
study.” 
Rabbi Menachem Caytak, director of the 
Chabad Jewish Center of Troy; Dr. Michael Pytlik, 
director of Jewish Studies at Oakland University; 
Mark Schlussel, CEO of Curus healthcare 
management; and Michael Nazmifar, first-year 
medical student and Mohiyeddini’s mentee, are 
supporters of the study. 
Before making it public, Mohiyeddini sent the 
survey to the supporters of the study and each 
shared their feedback. 
“They are all extremely knowledgeable, 
experienced Jewish leaders in our community,” he 
said.
Mohiyeddini created the questionnaire — which 
measures different aspects of antisemitism — 
based on literature review, his own research and 
through talking to experts. 
He is hoping to collect a couple hundred 
responses, “because in order to be able to publish 

it in reputable journals, we need a large sample 
size,” he said. “The larger the sample, the more 
powerful our results.” 
Once they receive enough responses, they’ll 
immediately analyze the data and provide a 
publicly available, transparent, detailed report so 
everyone can see the results. 
The plan is to publish the results in journals, 
news outlets and to “go wherever people want to 
hear about it and provide this objective, scientific 
evidence,” he says. 
Mohiyeddini has “no doubt” the data will show 
how harmful antisemitism is. 
“I hope once we publish the results, those who 
are engaging in antisemitism and don’t reflect on 
it and think it’s just a joke or a remark come to 
understand how harmful their behavior is and, 
hopefully, it stops,” he says. “That is the aim of this 
study, to raise awareness that antisemitism is not 
something minor. Now is the best time to add the 
voice of objective science into this discussion and 
raise public awareness that antisemitism is really 
harmful.” 

To participate in the study, visit https://oakland.az1.qualtrics.

com/jfe/form/SV_3OtjOjOo6boIEaq. For questions, contact 

Mohiyeddini at (248) 370-3905 or mohiyeddini@oakland.edu. 

Researchers want to know how perceived antisemitism 
impacts the mental well-being of American Jews.

Oakland University 
Antisemitism Study 

DANNY SCHWARTZ SENIOR STAFF REPORTER

OUR COMMUNITY

“NOW IS THE BEST TIME 
TO ADD THE VOICE OF 
OBJECTIVE SCIENCE 
INTO THIS DISCUSSION 
AND RAISE PUBLIC 
AWARENESS THAT 
ANTISEMITISM IS REALLY 

HARMFUL.”

— CHANGIZ MOHIYEDDINI

Changiz 
Mohiyeddini