How Accents Affect Perception of Intelligence, Physical Attractiveness, and Trustworthiness of Middle-Easter-, Latin-American-, British- and Standard-American-English-Accented Speakers

Authors

Abstract

Accent Prestige theory states that accents are used as cues to judge characteristics of the accented speaker. In this study, four accents were recorded and later played for the participants: Standard-American, Middle-Eastern, Latin-American, and British. Participants filled out a questionnaire rating perceived intelligence, trustworthiness, and physical attractiveness of the recorded accent , as well as a demographics questionnaire. The authors predict the following: Middle-Eastern- and Latin-accented speakers will be rated lower on the three scales than standard-American-accented speakers, and the British-accented speaker will be rated higher. Statistical significance was obtained on physical attractiveness ratings and on intelligence ratings. p<.05. The results do not support accent prestige theory. The authors call for further research to be conducted to discover the real affect of accent on perception.

Recommended Citation

(2007) "How Accents Affect Perception of Intelligence, Physical Attractiveness, and Trustworthiness of Middle-Easter-, Latin-American-, British- and Standard-American-English-Accented Speakers," Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/intuition/vol3/iss1/3