An Exploration of Implicit Attitudes toward Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Managing Settler Biases through Mindfulness

The consequences of colonization and racism continue to impact the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, notably within the healthcare system. The two studies forming this dissertation turned the research lens onto Settler peoples in Canada. The overarching goals were to develop a tool that could be used to identify levels of implicit bias toward Indigenous Peoples, examine the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion, emotions, and measures of racial/ethnic bias, and investigate differences in reactions, feelings of warmth toward Indigenous Peoples, and intentions for change associated with administering a brief mindfulness intervention after receiving implicit bias feedback. Study 1 developed the Indigenous Peoples in Canada Implicit Association Test (IPC-IAT), an adaptation of the well-known Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGee, Schwartz, 1998). Data was collected from 306 White self-identified individuals from the general Canadian population. Analyses identified moderate levels of implicit negative bias toward Indigenous Peoples in Canada and found that the IPC-IAT showed expected relationships to other measures and established correlates of racial/ethnic bias. Few significant correlations between measures of racial/ethnic bias, mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotions were revealed. Study 2 explored the acceptability of the IPC-IAT and whether a brief self-compassion intervention administered after the IPC-IAT lessened negative reactions, improved feelings of warmth toward Indigenous Peoples, and led to greater intentions for change. Both healthcare professionals (n = 13) and those from the general population found the IPC-IAT to be an acceptable component of an assessment of, and brief intervention for, racial/ethnic biases. A group of 95 individuals randomly assigned to receive the brief self-compassion intervention was compared to a control group (n = 89) that completed unrelated reading and writing tasks following IPC-IAT feedback. Intervention did not promote the expected changes in state-mindfulness and those assigned to the intervention group did not have fewer negative reactions, greater feelings of warmth, or more intentions for change compared to the control group. Post-exploratory analyses showed that positive reactions were correlated with greater feelings of warmth and intentions for change. Implications and limitations of both studies are discussed and future directions for addressing Indigenous-specific racism are considered.

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