This study looks at negative attitudes towards various out-groups and examines in an experimental design the influence of anonymous interview settings on estimates of attitudes towards supposedly sensitive topics. Respondents were presented with instruments meant to measure various forms of prejudice towards out-groups while the interview was conducted at random either as a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) or computer assisted self interview (CASI). The scales used in this study can be shown to be both reliable as well as valid, furthermore, in accordance with various research by Bierly (1985), Zick et al. (2008) and Heitmeyer (2005) the results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) show various forms of prejudice form a type of generalized attitude. In the more recent articles from Zick et al. (2008), Heitmeyer (2005), Wagner et al. (2008), this is referred to as the ‘Syndrome Group-Focused Enmity’ (GFE). So while both an overarching ‘syndrome’ of prejudice as well as valid and reliable measures of individual forms of prejudice can be empirically confirmed, the results of the analyses show that prejudice towards a specific out-group, let alone a generalized attitude of prejudice, cannot be seen as uniformly desirable. Specific items elicit varying response behaviour. Item- and topic-trait desirabilities were established to help explain the extent to which the survey mode affected estimates. Other respondent- and item-related characteristics also influence SD bias. Survey mode effects are often only seen in conjunction with other factors.