Perceptions 'affected by accent'

[ComradeDavo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7329768.stm

Accent could affect how intelligent people are thought to be, a new study suggests.

The study, which matched accents with perceived intelligence, found speaking in a Birmingham accent gives a worse impression than saying nothing at all.

Scientists at Bath Spa University asked 48 volunteers to compare accents.

Dr Lance Workman, who led the team of researchers, said that one of the reasons for doing the study "was to find out about stereotypes".

They compared the Yorkshire accent with those from Birmingham and with the clipped tone of what is known as Queen's English, or received pronunciation (RP), while looking at photos of female models

They then repeated the experiment in silence, and while accents had no impact on the perception of beauty, it significantly affected the intelligence rating.

The silent test scored higher than the Birmingham "Brummie" accent, with the Yorkshire accent being rated the highest.

Dr Workman presented his findings at the British Psychological Society's annual meeting in Dublin.

He said: "Surveys have shown that a lot of people associate Birmingham with criminal activity, and they associate criminal activity with low intelligence.

"Can I just say that whenever I've been to Birmingham I've found people to be very bright and friendly.

"Thirty years ago 10% of the population went to university. If someone had RP you'd probably think they had gone to university.

"Today, 44% of young people go to university. I think there's been a shift in what we expect from somebody who is educated.

"There's been this change from elite education to mass education."

Dr Workman also said that his co-researcher on the study was a woman with a Birmingham accent who he regarded as being extremely intelligent.

Quite funny that it was done at a uni in my home city, which my girlfriend had attented...and she's a brummie!

 

[brennan]

Surely people associate Liverpool with criminal activity?

But yeah, Brummies do sound daft.

Sorry Brummies.

 

[RedRalph]

Its true though. People get stereotyped by their accents.Here in Ireland

Working class Dub - vicious heroin addicted mobster
Middle class Dub - snobby, affected imbeciele
Culchie - mind numbingly stupid bog demon
Nordie - not happy unless arguing, fighting, getting red in the face

 

[Bartleby]

Echo the scouser = criminal theory. I also find it hard to believe that a Yorkshire accent makes you sound intelligent. Now Then! Let's get this rocket on t'road!

I remember reading a while ago that a geordie accent was found to be "reassuring" in a similar sort of study.

 

[Rhymes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVQSLBlmcYY

a clear case

 

[Brighteye]

If only it were an international study.

 

[RedRalph]

Can you imagine a Brummie talking dirty? horrific.

 

[bathsheba666]

Can you imagine a Brummie talking dirty? horrific.

I don't have to imagine. I do it regularly.

And, to spare your imagination, anything I can give you a taste of?

 

[RedRalph]

Spell out phonetically what you might say. but please, no tastes of anyhting for me

 

[Arwon]

My girlfriend's from Birmingham and she still sounds all posh to me.

But then, all English people sound posh unless they're cockneys or west country farmers.

 

[Godwynn]

That would be an interesting study to do in the United States.

 

[RedRalph]

I'm guessing New Hampshire/Mass would be RP and alabama/Georgia would make you sound thick?

 

[Arwon]

Naw. I'm fairly sure the equivalent of RP is this awful concoction called "standard American" which people from some Midwestern state approximate in their speech, leading to the ludicrous claim that some Americans speak "unaccented" English.

 

[QuoVadisNation]

As per Rhymes' video, having a thick 'redneck' accent can make you sound a little thick in other parts of the country, like the northeast and the Mid-Atlantic States. The Kentucky accent over here actually makes you sound ignorant as well as comical. But I don't think anyone believes a new Hampshire accent is the equivalent of 'rp'.

I imagine people in other parts of the country perceive New Jersey accents as the equivalent of barbarian speak. This study is neat, but I can't help but feel that the study is just wasting money on learning something everyone already knows.

 

[I'm Cleo!]

This is cool. I wish they had done this in the U.S. Although I'm sure QVN is right and it would just reinforce what we all think we know.

Massachusetts is not "RP." I think the Boston accent (shared in lower proportion by others from New England) is absurd: "You can't get thea from hea." (I'm sure they think my New Jersey accent is absurd, too: ". .. .. .. . you, you mother. .. .. .. .er!") The American "RP," is, as Arwon suggested, middle-Midwestern. Like Indiana, Ohio, &c. Northern Midwestern and you start getting into the Fargo accents, and any farther south you get a drawl. Colorado might have a decent "RP" accent, too. You'd think California would have it, but there's a subtle California accent where, for example, they pronounce "college" as "cawllege."

My favorite accent, though it doesn't make you sound smart, is Philadelphia. It's so distinct once you get an ear for it, and it's so weird.

Cleo

 

[Swedishguy]

A Gothenburgian dialect is guaranteed to drag your rep down.

When again, I live in Eskilstuna, the city that was elected to having the worst dialect once.

 

[really]

Massachusetts is not "RP." I think the Boston accent (shared in lower proportion by others from New England) is absurd: "You can't get thea from hea."

I was out in a pub at home in Galway, Ireland with some Boston cousins and we got chatting to some girls from one of the Carolinas. It took them a few minutes to realise my cousins weren't Irish.

 

[I'm Cleo!]

really,

I think a lot of people haven't heard strong Boston accents, like in Gone Baby Gone. It can be so strong, you have no idea what the person is saying. I've been in bars in Boston where it's difficult to understand the old guys sitting there.

I know that speaking in a thick, Southern (USA) drawl makes it more difficult for foreigners to understand you. I was in the Netherlands learning Dutch a few years ago, and my fellow classmembers and I would sound like a parody of a Southerner if we wanted to speak privately.

Cleo

 

[Leonel]

I supposedly have a very light British accent which is a mix of many regions.

 

[ComradeDavo]

My girlfriend's from Birmingham and she still sounds all posh to me.

But then, all English people sound posh unless they're cockneys or west country farmers.

As a 'west country farner' I am proud to fall into the 'non posh' catergory!