Activation, Automacity, and Mental Health Implications of Colonial Mentality

Among Filipino Americans, Colonial Mentality (CM) is a specific form of internalized oppression that is characterized by an automatic preference for anything American and automatic rejection of anything Filipino that may be manifested overtly and covertly. Given that CM is theorized to be composed of a covert aspect and that it may operate automatically, introspection-dependent and explicit methods of investigating the construct may be limited. Thus, using indirect and implicit methodologies, three studies were conducted to test CM theory: Study 1 attempted to activate and capture the existence of a CM-consistent cultural knowledge system using explicit primes; Study 2 investigated whether CM may be activated outside of awareness, intention, or control using a more indirect and implicit priming methodology---a lexical decision priming task; and Study 3 tested the theory that Filipino Americans have automatically associated pleasantness with anything American and unpleasantness with anything Filipino using the Implicit Association Test. The results suggest that many Filipino Americans may hold a CM-consistent cultural knowledge system, that CM may be automatically activated, and that CM may operate outside of awareness, intention, or control. Mental health implications of CM among Filipino Americans are also explored.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• David, Eric John

Contributors dc:contributor

• Okazaki, Sumie

• Hispanic American Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3269875

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82127