Survey reveals workers take colleagues less seriously if they have an accent
It’s not what you say but how you say it that may cause judgement from your work colleagues, research has found.
A poll by hearing campaign Heal the World found that 15% of 4,000 respondents would take a work colleague less seriously if they had an accent, while 11% said an accent would influence whether or not they did business with them.
One-quarter of respondents said the Brummie accent was the most annoying, with a Scottish accent perceived as the most aggressive.
People who spoke the Queen’s English were thought to be the most intelligent, while seven in 10 respondents said it carried the most authority.
The Scouse accent was found to be the most untrustworthy according to one in three respondents, followed by Cockney, which received 22% of the votes.
Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychologist at Kings College, London, said: “Accents can play a huge role in our initial attitude towards others. This explains why some people are more likely to adapt their accent to avoid being stereotyped and to encourage a particular impression.”
“There are essentially two components to an accent – location and strength. The location of someone’s accent encourages particular stereotypes and we presume people with stronger accents are less intelligent and are educated to a lesser degree,” Wilson added.
This story was first published by Personnel Today
Labels: culture, employment law, employment practice, equality, inequality, workplace
posted by Ian Dodds Consulting @ 11:12 am
8 comments
8 Comments:
It would be interesting to know if the study asks whether any of those interviewed have ever lived outside their local area or country for any period of time. Stong local cultural preferences are often seen in a new perspective when one travels abroad and experiences at least one alternative culture.
Don Foster
I supervise staff from several latin countries. Even though they have an accent they are intellegent. At times when speaking to people from the United States they are not given a chance to be understood. People from the United States do not take the time or use the patients to understand what is being said to them. I think others should think of how they might feel if they were in the same situation.
I agree that people should be more aware of the cultures and languages outside of their own area, as well as try to "put themselves in someone else's shoes". Although as a society we should try to be more understanding and not stereotype, I also believe that in the professional world colloquial slang should be avoided and the proper form of the language used. With that said, an accent should not affect work relations in regards to personality, acceptance, and hiring.
Shell-87
I think that no matter who you are we all have an accent. It just depends on were a person grew up. This is true even for people who were born and raised in the states. There are things that people say that is hard to understand. Its just a matter of talking to your colleagues, and being understanding.
I noticed in the article that they saw people with English accents essentially as more powerful. So what i'm going to assume that if you have I guess a more ethnic accent such as someone coming from a Spanish speaking country that you are not considered as serious. I think that Americans such be impressed by anyone who comes from a country where English is not the main language yet their colleague knows how to speak English
I agree with some of the comments on here. It shouldn't matter if you have an accent that shouldn't been what we base someones knowledge or seriousness. In a perfect world I would hope that everyone could look past accents and look at the work that they people have done and then base their opinion on that. I will admit that I have thought this about a college because they did have an accent and I knew it was wrong but it was just what I thought. Everyone should think about it the situation was reversed and how they would feel if they thought if you didn't have an accent you wouldn't be taken seriously.
MS
I could definitely see this being possible. I think people are treated differently in this regard as well.
I understand how accents can play a huge role in our initial attitude towards others psychologically, but it doesn't seem to be fair and ethical to me. It's one of discriminations which saying accents can be negative things to work. There is nothing to deal with between accent and work ability; there is no relevance. People can not be hired because of their accents? No. It's ridiculous. Wokers are just saying they don't want to be annoyed by colleagues who have annoying accents during work time. If I am a boss of a company, I would hire people with good ability even if they have annoying accents. It's very stupid and humiliating things to judge poeple with their stereotypes and emotions.
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