The majority of people in Australia are negative about the country’s indigenous people. This is the result of a study published today by the Australian National University (ANU) on unconscious bias. According to the survey, three out of four Australians have a negative attitude towards the indigenous people of the continent.
That is independent of age, gender, education, profession, religion, income and political attitude. This type of negative implicit or unconscious bias „can lead to widespread racism“. It is likely that many people who have such views are not aware of their prejudices, the researchers said.
„Shocking but not surprising“
More than 11,000 people were interviewed over a period of ten years. The universities of Harvard, Yale and the University of Sydney also participated in the study published in the Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues. „The results are shocking but not surprising,“ said Siddharth Shirodkar from the ANU.
The results showed that an implicit negative attitude towards indigenous Australians could be widespread in society and likely be the cause of the racism that many indigenous people experience. The study is evidence of the invisible barriers they face in society, it said.
