Ko tu koe, ko rongo koe? : the influence of affective and identity priming on implicit cultural attitudes of Māori teens : submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology

Abstract

The current study examined the effects of an affective prime that was negative culturally in context (Māori) on Māori teenagers 16-18 yrs (n=60), to assess whether it would activate Worldview Defence (WVD). The study primed participants with one of four scenarios (negative-Māori, positive-Māori, negative non-Māori, and positive non-Māori in theme) with the belief that a threat to one's cultural Worldview (via the prime) would increase negative feelings towards potentially threatening or unpleasant material. To assess in an indirect or implicit manner, whether this was the case, participants were asked to provide opinions on two (fictitious) potential immigrants to Aotearoa (New Zealand), where one had written an essay supporting the Treaty of Waitangi, and the other opposing it. It was hypothesised that primes (prior emotional material) that increased cultural WVD would result in a greater discrepancy between the judgments (attitudes) towards the pro-Treaty author, and away from anti-Treaty author, specifically if the context was both negative and Māori. A moderate effect was found for the hypothesis, however, a significant influence was found for the positive Māori prime, suggesting that being primed with positive aspects of one's culture can increase WVD. The findings and possible reasons for this are discussed.