Not My Mascot: The Effects of Prejudice and Native American Mascots on Stereotype Activation and Attitudes toward Native Americans

There is an ongoing controversy based on the possible negative outcomes of using Native American mascots as symbols for sport teams. The present research examines the effect of Native American (NA) sports mascots on people’s stereotypes and attitudes toward NAs. In Study 1, people high in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) primed with NA mascots were more likely to endorse negative stereotypes of NA, compared to people in a control condition. Additional analyses revealed that the endorsement of negative stereotypes partially mediated the relationship between attitudes towards NAs and the approval of NA mascots in the priming condition. This relationship disappears when high RWA individuals view pictures of contemporary NA people (Study 2). Furthermore, correlational data suggests that people who support NA mascots genuinely believe that they represent positive attributes of NA people (Study 3). This research supports the view that the use of NA sports mascots primes negative stereotypes of NAs and that the approval of NA mascots is partially responsible for that relationship.