Native Americans, Perceived Legitimacy and Outgroup Favoritism

Abstract

Since the first observation of the outgroup bias effect, studies have explored this phenomenon in a number of marginalized minority groups, including African Americans, Latino Americans, and indigent populations (Jost, Pelham, Sheldon, & Sullivan, 2003). The outgroup bias effect may be particularly salient in Native American groups because they are the most disadvantaged racial minority group in America (US Census Bureau, 2002). For this reason Native Americans may be acutely vulnerable to the pressure of favoring dominant group values and the inadvertent endorsement of unequal status quo arrangements. The prediction of status value asymmetry, that is, ingroup favoritism for status irrelevant traits and outgroup favoritism for status relevant traits, was not observed among Native American college students under either justified or delegitimized conditions. Cultural identification measures suggest that Native American as a descriptive designation most appropriately reflects ancestry rather than culture of origin for these individuals.