Afterimages of savages: implicit associations between primitives, animals and children

Historically, traditional people have often been likened to animals and children. A study employing implicit social cognition methods examined whether these associations endure in a more subtle, implicit form. Consistent with colonial era portrayals of indigenous and other traditional people as 'primitives' or 'savages', participants continued to associate them with animal- and child-related stimuli more readily than people from modern, industrialized societies. In addition, traditional people were ascribed fewer uniquely human attributes than their modern counterparts. These findings, replicated with verbal and pictorial representations of the traditional/modern distinction, were independent of any positive or negative evaluation of traditional people. They imply that colonial 'images of savages' persist in contemporary western society as a cultural residue.