The Effects of Involvement in Sports on Attitudes Toward Native American Sport Mascots

This study investigated whether the degree of involvement in sports affected attitudes about the acceptability of Native American sport mascots. A multidimensional measure of sport involvement showed that high sport involvement predicted greater acceptance of Native American mascots. Only 16% of respondents found any of the Native American sport mascots presented in the study to be at all offensive whereas the rest of the participants showed approval. Men scored significantly higher on every indicator of sport involvement and also showed more approval for Native American mascots. Implications of these findings for continued use of Native American sport mascots by sports organizations are discussed.