Description

The role of political orientation in intergroup biases has typically been examined at the individual level. In the present research, we tested whether the political orientation of the context in which individuals are immersed accounts for implicit bias against Native Americans. More precisely, we hypothesized that the implicit assumption that Native Americans are less American than White Americans would be more pronounced among individuals reared in relatively conservative counties compared to individuals reared in relatively liberal counties. In addition, we tested whether this relationship held when we controlled for several socio-demographic characteristics of participants, including their political orientation, and other county-level socio-structural variables. We relied on data collected using the Native-White American Identity Implicit Association Test (IAT) available on Project Implicit between 2004 and 2020 (N = 255,498 nested within 1,142 counties). The political orientation of counties was determined based on the outcome of Presidential Elections during the same period. Other county-level indicators were based on the 2010 US Census and the American Community Survey. Overall, Native Americans were less strongly associated with the American identity than White Americans were. As predicted, this implicit bias was stronger in counties voting for Republican, rather than Democratic, nominees. This relationship held when we controlled for the political orientation, ethnic identity, age, gender, and level of education of participants and for the ethnic diversity, median income, income inequalities, proportion of US citizens, and population density of counties. In line with a socio-cultural perspective, the political orientation of the context in which individuals live predicts the extent to which they display implicit bias against Native Americans. Conservative counties are characterized by a relatively exclusionary American identity, whereas liberal counties are associated with responses that are more inclusive. The current study emphasizes the importance of examining the effects of contextual factors on implicit biases. Implicit anti-Native American reactions cannot be reduced to individual-level factors; they are also deeply embedded in local socio-political contexts. Going past the individual level of analysis provides a more holistic view of implicit interethnic biases that acknowledges their socio-cultural foundations.