Perceptions of Native Americans who confront prejudice based on blood quantum

The perceived effectiveness of a prejudice confrontation depends on the perceived target group status of a confronter (Chu, 2017). Bias confrontations from majority group members (e.g., White individuals) are often perceived as more genuine, while confrontations from minority group members (e.g., Black individuals) are often perceived as complaining (Czopp & Monteith, 2003; Czopp et al., 2006; Monteith et al., 2019; J. Nicole & Stewart, 2004; Kaiser & Miller, 2001). Building on prior research showing that prejudice confrontation outcomes depend heavily on the confronter’s group identity (Black vs. White), this student extends these findings to Native American populations (Rasinski & Czopp, 2010). Native Americans face a complex confrontation landscape because society polices their identities legally through tribal affiliation cues, such as blood quantum and membership cards (Rodriguez-Lonebear, 2021). In the current study, we will focus on Native American confrontations and examine how blood quantum (blood quantum variations: 0%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%) shapes the perception of Native American bias confrontations. We hypothesize that (1) higher Native American blood quantum will yield greater perceived authenticity, but poorer evaluations; and (2) lower Native American blood quantum will yield less perceived authenticity, but greater reevaluations. Extending prejudice confrontation research to Native American populations facilitates further examination of how colonial constructs shape intergroup relations. These findings may guide the development of effective prejudice confrontation strategies in identity-policed contexts, contributing to ongoing efforts to reduce expressions of prejudice. Our participants and sample population will be recruited and paid $1 through the online platform CloudResearch Connect (Litman et al., 2017). Before beginning, participants will review and sign an informed consent form and then provide necessary demographic information. Participants will begin by completing the Racial Attitudes thermometer, where they indicate how warmly/positively they feel about Native Americans with a sliding scale anchored by 1 = Cold and 100 = Warm (Crag & Richeson, 2014). Following completion, they will listen to an audio file of a prejudice confrontation. While listening, participants will see information related to the confrontation and characters, including the confronters' varying blood quantum (0%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%). The confrontation will be approximately 1 to 2 minutes. After listening, participants will complete the Social Attraction scale using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) consisting of six items (e.g., “I would like to have a friendly chat with her/him”) to rate the social attractiveness of the perpetrator and confronter (McCroskey & McCain, 1974). Then, participants will complete the Debate Performance Composite using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = very much) with four items (e.g., “To what extent is the speaker knowledgeable about this topic?”) to assess the performance of the perpetrator and confronter (Rasinski & Czopp, 2010). Next, participants will complete an Agreement Index using an 11-point Likert scale (0 = completely disagree, 10 = completely agree) consisting of one item (e.g., “To what extent do you agree with the speaker?”) to indicate the agreeableness of the perpetrator and confronter. Lastly, participants will finish with the American Indian Authenticity Index using an 11-point Likert scale (0 = Completely non-AIAN, 10 = completely AIAN) consisting of one item (e.g., “How credibly does the confronter’s claim to an American Indian/Alaskan Native (AIAN) identity seem?”) to assess the perceived authenticity of the confronter's Native American identity. Once all measures are complete, participants will be fully debriefed.