The gradual decline of colonial ideologies (2009–2018): A latent growth curve analysis of historical negation and symbolic exclusion among settler colonizers

Abstract In nations laden with colonial inequities, settler colonizers protect their structural advantages through ideologies that (a) distance the injustices of colonization from contemporary society (historical negation) and (b) exclude Indigenous culture from the mainstream national identity (symbolic exclusion). Here, we track settler colonizers' endorsement of these two ideologies between 2009 and 2018 among a nationwide random sample of Pākehā/New Zealand Europeans ( N = 22,986). Consistent with global trends toward equality over this period, both historical negation and symbolic exclusion exhibited a gradual, though slightly accelerating, decline. Subsequent analyses indicate that mean levels of both ideologies were higher among men (vs. women), correlated positively with age, conservatism, social dominance orientation, and right‐wing authoritarianism, and correlated negatively with warmth toward Māori. Additionally, the decline in historical negation was attenuated among men and by age, conservatism, and social dominance orientation, whereas the decline in symbolic exclusion was attenuated by age and warmth toward Māori, but accelerated by social dominance orientation. Results thus illustrate a progressive trajectory of ideological change among settler colonizers during the 2009–2018 period and identify factors that impede one's willingness to renounce ideologies that uphold colonial inequities.