A question of honor: Chief Wahoo and American Indian stereotype activation among a university based sample

Scott Freng, Cynthia Willis-Esqueda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

For over 30 years, a debate has raged regarding the appropriateness of high school, university, and professional sports teams using American Indian mascots. Proponents of such mascots state that these images are traditions and honor Indigenous People. Opponents of these images argue that the symbols foster stereotypes (Pewewardy, 1999) and negatively affect American Indians (Fryberg, Markus, Oyserman, Stone, 2008). The purpose of this investigation was to examine if exposure to an American Indian mascot activated American Indian stereotypes in a predominately European American sample. In addition, we explored the role of personal motivation, prejudice level, and experience on stereotype activation. We found that the Chief Wahoo image (i.e., Cleveland Indian's logo) compared to other images activated negative, but not positive, American Indian stereotypes. Participants' motivation to control prejudice, prejudice level, and experience did not predict negative stereotype activation. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)577-591
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Social Psychology
Volume151
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2011

Keywords

  • American Indian mascots
  • implicit stereotyping
  • stereotypes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology

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