Autochthony Belief and Making Amends to Indigenous Peoples: The Role of Collective Moral Emotions

Abstract

Intergroup relations in settler societies have been defined by historical conflict over territorial ownership between indigenous peoples and settler majorities. However, the indigenous groups were there first, and first arrival is an important principle for assigning ownership to a group. In two studies among Australians of Anglo-Celtic origin (N = 322 and N = 475), we argued and found that the general belief in entitlements for first comers (i.e. autochthony) is related to more support for reparations in terms of apology and instrumental compensation for Aborigines, as well as to less topic avoidance. We further proposed that the group-based emotions of collective guilt, moral shame and image shame account for these associations. We found that majority members who endorsed autochthony belief experienced more guilt (Study 1 and 2), moral shame (Study2) and image shame (Study 2). In turn, guilt and moral shame were related to more support for reparations and less topic avoidance, whereas image shame was related to more topic avoidance, thereby partially suppressing the negative association between autochthony belief and topic avoidance. Our research points at the importance of considering autochthony belief and different types of moral emotions in research on past transgressions and current attempts to restore social justice for indigenous peoples.

Collective Psychological Ownership and Territorial Compensation in Australia and South Africa

“…Autochthony belief was measured with three items that have been previously used in research on autochthony in the Netherlands (Martinovic & Verkuyten, 2013), Great Britain (Nijs, Martinović et al, 2021), and Australia (Nooitgedagt, Martinović et al, 2021): “Every territory belongs primarily to its first inhabitants.”, “Those who arrived first in a territory can be considered to own it more.”, and “‘We were here first’ is a good argument for determining who owns the territory.”…”

Territorial ownership perceptions and reconciliation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: A person‐centred approach

“…This finding is surprising, as we anticipated the autochthony principle to be exclusive. Previous research in settler societies found that settlers’ endorsement of the autochthony principle was associated with perceiving the indigenous outgroup as owners, and in turn stronger support for compensations (Nooitgedagt et al., 2021). In Western Europe, autochthony beliefs were associated with outgroup prejudice (Martinović & Verkuyten, 2013).…”

Australia Day or Invasion Day? Perspectives on the Continuing Impact of Colonialism Underlies Public Contestations Around Australia's National Day

“…Related research has shown that when historical atrocities are framed as contributing to the ongoing suffering of victimized groups, perpetrator groups report greater willingness to make amends (Imhoff et al, 2013). Similarly, among Anglo‐Celtic Australians (i.e., the settler majority group), it was found that recognizing the territorial ownership of Indigenous populations in the country was linked to greater guilt and shame over the atrocities that Anglo‐Celtic groups perpetrated against Aboriginal groups, which in turn explained support for reparations (Nooitgedagt et al, 2021). In settler colonial countries like Australia, cultural continuity for Indigenous groups is particularly consequential because there is ongoing erasure and silencing of the group's cultural traditions and histories (e.g., Anderson & Metzger, 2011; Brown & Brown, 2010; Short, 2005; Stastny, 2019).…”