Ethnic preference and identification among Canadian Indian and White children: Replication and extension.

Abstract

Examined 3 hypotheses regarding ethnic preference and identification among White and Native Indian children who were asked by either a White or Native experimenter (E) to indicate their preference for either a White or Native doll, a white or brown rabbit, and a white or brown cup. The escape hypothesis suggests that both types of Ss would choose the White doll and that the Natives would show ethnic misidentification. J. E. Williams's (Williams and J. K. Morland, 1976) notion of a pro-light/anti-dark bias suggests that Ss of both races would choose the lighter of 2 objects. A 3rd hypothesis suggests that Ss of both races would choose a doll of the same race as the E; there would be no pattern regarding rabbits or cups. 30 White 5-7 yr olds and 35 Native 5-6 yr olds served as Ss. Results show that Ss of both races chose the lighter of 2 objects, consistent with Williams's hypothesis. Such responses, however, were influenced by both S's race and race of the E. Results also indicate that when choosing the doll that looked more like themselves, Ss of both races chose the White doll more frequently with a White than a Native E, a finding consistent with the E bias hypothesis. The notion that minority group Ss were attempting to escape a minority group label by identifying with objects associated with the majority group was not supported. (French abstract) (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)