Where Are You From? An Investigation Into the Intersectionality of Accent Strength and Nationality Status on Perceptions of Nonnative Speakers in Britain

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We explore how interpersonal and intergroup perceptions are affected by a nonnative speaker’s accent strength and the status of their home country. When nationality information was absent (Study 1), natives who heard a strong (vs. weak) accent rated the speaker as warmer but immigrants as a group as more threatening. This result was replicated when the speaker’s nationality was familiar (Study 2) but in this study, country status further shaped accent-based perceptions: the strong (vs. weak) accented speaker evoked more positive interpersonal perceptions when her country status was low, but more negative intergroup perceptions when her country status was high. When the status of the speaker’s nationality was manipulated (Study 3), we replicated the interpersonal perceptions found in Study 1 and the intergroup perceptions found in Study 2. Findings support a holistic approach to investigating perceptions of nonnative speakers: one that considers nationality as well as accent strength.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Language and Social Psychology
Volume39
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)495-515
Number of pages21
ISSN0261-927X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sep 2020

    Research areas

  • accent perception, communication, immigration, intergroup relations, interpersonal perceptions

ID: 255315359