A Legacy of Derogation: Prejudice toward Aboriginal Persons in Canada

Abstract

Interpersonal prejudice toward Aboriginal men and women has, to date, received little attention from Canadian social psychologists. The present study sought to address this omission by examining the correlates of Old-Fashioned Prejudice (O-PATAS) and Modern Prejudice (M-PATAS) toward Aboriginal persons. Data from two samples (Sample 1: n = 280, 71.6% females; Sample 2: n = 163, 70.9% females) were used. As predicted, in Sample 1, respondents evidenced greater levels of modern prejudice than old-fashioned prejudice, and both forms correlated positively with social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and negativity toward other stigmatized groups (specifically, gay men and overweight persons). For Sample 2, modern prejudice toward Aboriginal people correlated negatively with empathy as well as self-reported contact with Aboriginal people. However, no association was observed between scores on the M-PATAS and a multi-faceted measure of religiosity.