A distinctive characteristic of anti-Semitism is the extent to which 'Jew' can symbolize not merely one, but almost each and every positive and negative conflict-laden element of the unconscious. The emotionally supercharged response to the presumably neurotic component of the 'Jewish personality' is compared with the reaction of the Southern whites to the Negro; considerable identifications are at play in both instances. Brenner arrives at the conclusion that the Jews are actually fulfilling a mission by serving as a kind of measuring stick which indicates the degree of psychic health of the people of the world.