NZAVS Feedback -- Why do some people prefer the term 'Pākehā'?

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• published: 05 Feb 2013
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The NZAVS website: http://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/NZAVS This video is posted to provide feedback to participants in the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS). The video summarizes results from the NZAVS looking at why some people prefer the term 'Pākehā' more than others. There has been considerable debate over the years about the labels or terms best suited to describe New Zealanders of European descent. We found that 14.1% of New Zealanders preferred to use the term 'Pākehā' to describe New Zealanders of European descent, 22.8% preferred the term 'NZ European', and 44.6% preferred to use the term 'New Zealander.' Results from the NZAVS also indicated that among New Zealanders of European descent, a preference for the use of the term Pākehā was reliably linked to high levels of warmth and positive feelings toward Māori. Māori held extremely positive attitudes toward New Zealanders of European descent regardless of the term they preferred to describe them. These results clearly indicate that for Māori, use of the term Pākehā to describe New Zealanders of European descent is NOT linked to any sort of negative evaluation of New Zealanders of European descent, as some have suggested. The results summarized in this video were published in the journal, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.