University Toward

Student Attitudes American Indians

Julie R. Ancis Sandra K. Choney

William E. Sedlacek

This study measured racial attitudes of 201 students toward American Indians in a variety of social-interpersonal and educational situations. Student's racial attitudes were generally positive except in a situation involving an American Indian student receiving free health care. Results are discussed in the context of the current sociopolitical climate.

Racial prejudice continues to pervade both social and political realms in the United States (Dovidio & Gaertner. 1986; Ponterotto & Pedersen. 1993; Zinn. 1980). Similarly. in the educational realm, prejudicial attitudes among college students have been clearly demonstrated (Sedlacek. 1987; Trippi & Cheatham. 1991). Much of the research on college student prejudice has focused on attitudes toward Blacks (e.g.. Balenger, Hohan. & Sedlacek, 1992; Fleming. 1984; White & Sedlacek, 1987). For example. White students have been found to hold negative attitudes toward Blacks in various educational-vocational and personal-social situations (Balenger et al., 1992; Sedlacek & Brooks, 1976). Moreover, White students have been found to view Blacks the most negatively in situations requiring sustained intimate contact (Carter, White, & Sedlacek, 1987; Minatoya & Sedlacek, 1984; Mandis. 1964).

Given the changing demographics in institutions of higher learning (American Council on Education and Education Commission of the States [ACE/ECS], 1988. it seems necessary to assess students' racial

JulL R. Am& is an assistant professor in the Depamnent of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Old Dominion University. Norfolk, Virginia. Sandra K. Choney is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Oklahoma, N m WdUam E. Sedlacek Is a professor of education and assistant diredor of the counseling Center at the Unkmsttg of M a y l a n d cdlege park Correspondence reganling this article should be sent to Julie R. Ancis, &padmmt of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Old Dominion Uniuersity. Norfolk, VA 23529.

26 Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /26-36

attitudes toward other ethnic minorities. These attitudes, as a component of the university climate, have significant implications for the advancement and achievement of minority students. More specifically, an inhospitable climate on most predominantly White college campuses has been implicated in the lower matriculation and higher dropout rates for Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians (Bennett & Okinaka, 1990; Ponterotto. 1990).

American Indians (the terms American Indian. Indian, and Natiue American are used interchangeably to refer to the indigenous people of the United States) represent an ethnic minority who have been subject to longstanding and profound forms of racism and discrimination in the United States (Kitano, 1985; Morris, 1993; Trimble. 1988). Stereotypical and negative images of Indian people have permeated textbooks, films, research literature, and the news media (Bataille & Silet. 1980; cf. Costo, 1970; Friar & Friar. 1972; Trimble. 1988; Troy, 1975). These stereotypes have ranged from depictions of Indians as naive and passive to brutal savages and murderers. Moreover, the diversity of this population is often ignored because the unique heritage and customs of the many American Indian tribes are rarely acknowledged. Inaccurate, distorted, exaggerated, and homogenized representations of the history and culture of American Indians continue to exist (Kitano, 1985; Trimble, 1988).

I t is thus likely that students, having been exposed to negative and stereotypical imagery of American Indians throughout the educational process. hold prejudicial attitudes toward them. Because prejudicial attitudes are implicated in the degree to which academic environments foster the emotional, academic, and vocational achievement of American Indians, it seems necessary to assess the exact nature of student's attitudes. Sedlacek and Brooks (1976) have noted the importance of assessing racial attitudes as one step in eliminating racism in higher education. Results may be used to develop programs that ultimately foster the retention and eventual academic and career success of American Indians. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of university students toward American Indians in various personal and educational situations.

METHOD

Participants

A total of 201 entering freshmen (76% White. 14% African American, 6% Asian, 3% Hispanic, and 1% Other) who were attending a summer orientation program at a large, eastern. public university completed

Journal of Multicultural Counseltng and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /26-36 27

one of two versions of the Situational Attitude Scale (SAS; Sedlacek & Brooks, 1970). More than 90% of new freshmen attend this program. Forty-two percent of the students were women and 58% were men. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 20 years, with 85% aged 18.

Instrument

The SAS was originally developed to measure attitudes of Whites toward Blacks (Sedlacek & Brooks, 1970) in various interpersonal situations. The SAS has since been used to measure student attitudes toward other groups such as women (Minatoya & Sedlacek, 1983). older people (Peabody & Sedlacek, 1982), people with physical disabilities (Stovall & Sedlacek, 1983). Arabs (Sergent, Woods. & Sedlacek. 1992). and Hispanics (White & Sedlacek, 1987). Situations are developed to represent instances in which the sociocultural variables of interest are highlighted. For example, the SAS-Women asks participants to respond to items such as "You have just met your new woman doctor."

Reliability coefficients have ranged from .70 to .89 (Sedlacek & Brooks, 1972; Stovall & Sedlacek. 1983). Although racial attitude measurement has often been subject to social desirability contamination. the contextual and subtle nature of the SAS decreases the likelihood of students responding in a socially desirable manner (Ponterotto & Pedersen. 1993; Sedlacek & Brooks, 1970. 1971). In addition, participants have been shown to "psychologically withdraw" (Sedlacek & Brooks, 1972, p. 1) from racial attitude measures and intentionally ignore the race variable. The interpersonal nature of the items on the SAS makes psychological withdrawal from the measurement diffcul t .

In this study, students' prejudice toward American Indians in various social-interpersonal and educational situations was measured using the SAS-American Indian. The students were asked to rate their responses to 10 social-interpersonal and educational situations on ten 5-point bipolar semantic differential scales (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957). More specifically. students were asked to select, for each descriptive scale, the rating that best described their feeling toward the item. Two forms of the questionnaire were constructed. In Form A. the race unspecified form, the 10 situations involved an individual whose race was not indicated. In Form B, the situations involved an individual identified as "American Indian."

The researchers decided to use the term American Indian, rather than Native American, for several reasons. First, partly as a result of the movement toward more culturally sensitive language usage, the

28 Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /26-36

term Native American is increasingly replacing the term American Indian. As such, the term Native American may be associated with the movement of "political correctness" and thus yield a socially desirable response set. Relatedly, Sedlacek (1996) noted that in constructing racial attitude measurement it was important to use the stimulus term most commonly used by the respondents rather than that preferred by the researchers. I t was therefore expected that the use of American Indian would more likely elicit existing prejudicial attitudes. In addition, despite the changing terminology. many students may be confused by the term Native American and assume that it referred to individuals born in the United States rather than to those of American Indian descent.

Procedure

Form A or Form B of the SAS was administered to randomly selected groups of students as part of an orientation program. Forms were randomly distributed and required approximately 15 minutes to complete. Demographic items, such as race and ethnic group, were included on the final page of the SAS. The responses of students of American Indian descent were eliminated from data analysis because of their presumed identification with the target word American Indian.

RESULTS

Data were analyzed using a 2 (Form) x 2 (Gender) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with responses to the 10 Situations as dependent variables. The overall MANOVA showed a significant main effect due to Form. F(10. 188) = 14.76. p c .05, but not due to Gender, 910,188) = 1.44. p > .05, and not due to the Form x Gender interaction, F(10.188) = .81, p > .05. These results suggest that students responded differently, depending on whether they had completed the race unspecified or the American Indian form. Men and women, however, responded similarly.

The data in Table 1 indicate that responses to 5 of the 10 situations on the SAS were significantly different when compared across Forms A and B. Students responded more favorably in Situation IV (new roommate). Situation V (compete for grades in an art class), Situation VI (assigned a lab partner in a lab class where you share the grade). and Situation IX (professor delivers a lecture on spiritualism) when the target(s) was American Indian than when the target(s) was racially unspecified. In Situation N (new roommate), students expressed

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /26-36 29

TABLE 1

Means and Standard Deviations for Items by Form on the SAS American Indian

Form A (Race Unspeclfled)) Form B (Am. In.)

Situation M SD M SD FValue

I. A(n) (Am. In.) professor chooses to hold class outside. II. A(n) (Am. In.) student is brought before the Judicial Hall because of having alcohol in a residence hall. 111. A(n) (Am. In.) student asks you to visit hidher home for the weekend. IV. You are assigned a new roommate (who is) (Am. In.). V. You find that you must compete for grades with (Am. In.) students in an art class. VI. In a lab class where partners share the grades, you are assigned a(n) (Am. In.) lab partner. VII. You discover that a(n) (Am. In.) student living in your residence hall is on a nonacademidnonathletic scholarship. VIII. A(n) (Am. In.) student gets free health care. IX. A(n) (Am. In.) professor delivers a lecture on sdritualism.

38.47

26.85

42.77

31.95

28.67

31.37

35.67

39.07

33.45

6.07

6.20

5.20

5.89

9.74

10.30

9.69

7.88

8.71

39.56

27.27

42.98

37.09

37.59

40.31

35.81

33.75

38.77

4.74

5.20

6.12

7.93

7.54

7.32

9.84

9.66

7.99

1.19

0.55

0.29

34.59'

41.21'

48.95'

0.05

15.28'

9.52' X. In one of your classes, a(n)

Note. SAS = Situational Attitude Scale. Form B includes words in parentheses; Form A (race unspecified) does not. Am. In. = American Indian. Scale ranges: 50 = mostpositive attitudes, 10 = most negative attitudes. 'p< .05 (MANOVA).

(Am. In.) student is always late. 28.15 726 29.13 6.03 0.00

feeling significantly less concern, more trusting, calmer, more fair, and delighted when the new roommate was American Indian than when the new roommate's race was unspecified. In Situation V (compete for grades in an art class), students completing the American Indian form described feeling less jealous, more accepting, more positive, more trusting, more understanding, more fair, more tolerant, more pleased. and less threatened than did students completing the race unspecified

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form. In Situation VI (assigned a lab partner in a lab class where you share the grade), students completing the American Indian form expressed feeling more approving, more fair, less concerned, less frustrated, more calm, less disturbed, more accepting, and more pleased than did students completing the race unspecified form. In Situation IX (professor delivers a lecture on spiritualism), students expressed feeling less harassed, more calm, more trusting, more believing. and more understanding when the professor was American Indian than when the professor’s race was unspecified.

The only situation that elicited more negative attitudes toward American Indians than other situations was Situation VIII (student gets free health care). In this case, students completing the American Indian form indicated feeling more disturbed, more angered, more resentful, less understanding, more threatened, more repelled, and more upset.

DISCUSSION

Overall, the results suggest positive attitudes toward American Indian students in social-interpersonal and educational situations. This is consistent with other research on racial attitudes and stereotypes of Americans indicating favorable changes over the last 25 years (Bobo. 1988; Pettigrew, 1985).

These Andings may be indicative of the increased attention given to the historical and current conditions of American Indians, as well as to other persons of color. For example, Trimble (1988) conducted a series of studies in Oklahoma from 1970 to 1976 in which both American Indian and non-American Indian students were asked to list and rank traits according to the degree to which they were “typical” of American Indians. Findings revealed that students’ stereotypes changed over the 6-year period. More specifically, the 1976 samples were found to select less negatively slanted words than the 1970 and 1973 samples. Mmble suggested that social conditions, such as increased media attention given to the needs of American Indians in Oklahoma in 1976. may have influenced student perceptions.

One must be cautious. however, about interpreting the Andings as suggestive of an absence of prejudicial attitudes toward American Indians. Since the late 1980s, there has been an effort to reverse the negative stereotyping of American Indians and the concurrent misrepresentation of historical events. Although recent “pro-Indian” depictions of historical events in the United States and characterizations of American Indians seem more accurate and sensitive, they remain

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /26-36 31

one-sided and simplified. For example, movies such as Dances With Wolves. are characterized by sentimental and romantic images of American Indians (Seals, 1991). Portrayals of American Indians as naive, passive, and noncompetitive as compared with their White counterparts have predominated in the media. Thus, although images of American Indians have changed, stereotyping continues. The more positive attitudes toward American Indians as new roommate, competitor for grades, and lab partner may therefore reflect exposure to these images. Because American Indians are numerically underrepresented in academic institutions, students' attitudes may be particularly influenced by media portrayals.

Conversely, students' more positive responses to American Indians may represent a defense against expressing their own prejudices. Due in part to the current social-political climate, it has become less socially acceptable to express one's prejudices (Ponterotto & Pedersen, 1993; Rowe, Bennett, & Atkinson, 1994; Sears, 1988). Prejudicial attitudes may therefore be less blatantly manifest, and thus be difficult to measure accurately.

Situation VIII in which an American Indian student receives free health care generated the only negative response. These findings are consistent with the continued opposition of many to programs that advance the cause of racial equality, such as affirmative action, despite rejection of old-fashioned doctrines of racial inferiority. formal discrimination, and legalized segregation (Blanchard. 1988; Bobo. 1988; Sears, 1988).

Similarly, resistance to free health care for American Indians may reveal racial prejudice masquerading "as a socially acceptable interest in impartial and universal justice" (Crosby & Clayton, 1990, p. 67). Several authors have discussed the widespread resistance to policies such as affirmative action (Blanchard, 1988; Clayton & Tangri, 1988; Crosby & Clayton, 1990). Affirmative action policies "are perceived to violate two basic principles underlying individual achievement in American society: equal access to opportunities and equitable assignment of rewards based on individual merit rather than on immutable status characteristics" (Clayton & Tangri, 1988, p. 177). The focus on differential benefits in Situation VIII may have increased the probability that race was used in responding to the instrument (Crosby 81 Clayton, 1990). No significant differences by Form were found for Situation VII (student living on your residence hall is on a nonacademic/nonathletic scholarship). Respondents may not have interpreted this situation as race-based because of its ambiguous meaning relative to Situation VIII.

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Limitations

Several methodological limitations exist in this study. First. all of the participants were college freshmen. Second, this study was conducted in an eastern university with an American Indian enrollment of 1%. The results may therefore not generalize to the general population or to those with greater exposure to American Indians. Third, this study assessed student attitudes in social-interpersonal and educational situations. The results may not generalize to work settings or those situations involving greater familiarity.

Research and Programmatic Implications

Additional research on racial attitudes toward American Indians is needed because this is a group that has been subject to a multitude of distorted and inaccurate representations throughout history. One question that was sparked from this study is whether students’ negative attitudes toward free health care for American Indians generalizes to other social programs. Because American Indians continue to experience barriers to their participation in academia (Blanchard. 1988). as manifested in their low matriculation and high dropout rate in colleges and universities (ACE/ECS, 1988; Ponterotto & Casas, 1991). proactive social policies are warranted. Future research may more closely examine attitudes toward programs and policies aimed at improving American Indians’ access and progress in higher education. Negative attitudes toward such proactive efforts may perpetuate a climate in which inequities are unacknowledged and efforts to reverse them are not pursued. Moreover, student attitudes toward American Indians may be assessed in other social-interpersonal and educational situations. I t would be interesting to investigate whether positive attitudes persist in situations requiring more intimate contact. This study’s results may be indicative of a one-sided perception of

American Indians. Although one may argue that more positive attitudes toward American Indians are beneficial, it must be recognized that stereotypical characterizations, whether seemingly positive or negative, negate individuals’ complexity and thus perpetuate a less than human conceptualization of others. Educators have a responsibility to challenge the prevailing simplified and inaccurate representations of American Indians as found in history books, movies, storybooks, and television.

Curriculum reform represents one venue in which to explore and modify these attitudes. Readings about the history and the culture of American Indians may be incorporated into the curriculum. This can

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1996 / Vol. 24 /2&36 33

include information regarding American Indians’ particular geopolitical history and their experience of discrimination in the United States, as well as information regarding the diverse customs, culture, and heritage of American Indian tribes. In addition, a discussion of how social. economic, and political conditions influence the development of stereotypes can encourage a closer examination of one’s own racial attitudes. Such awareness and knowledge is essential to promoting a positive and supportive climate for American Indian students (Sedlacek. 1988).

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