Do American Indian mascots = American Indian people? Examining implicit bias towards American Indian people and American Indian mascots

Abstract

Empirical examinations of American Indian (AI) mascots have only recently entered into the discourse of mainstream psychology. The present studies examined implicit attitudes of non-AI people towards AI mascots and the extent to which they are related to attitudes towards AI people. Significant concordance was observed between negative bias toward AI mascots and AI people. Negative AI mascot bias also predicted stereotype-consistent expectations of an AI person. The implications of these findings are discussed.