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regional accents and hirability

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7:51 am
August 17, 2011

sheila

mindsided by Blindsight

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I can only see the abstract, but the entire paper would be interesting.

When it matters how you pronounce it: The influence of regional accents on job interview outcome.

The visual dimension has featured prominently in person perception in the last 25 years. Alone, this dimension cannot give the complete ‘picture’ of others because language and speech (i.e., the auditory dimension) are also highly informative. Social-cognition research investigates the role of auditory information for impression formation. In a series of experiments, we tested perceived competence, hirability, and socio-intellectual status of different targets based on their regional accents. Given identical content of statements in different conditions of an alleged job interview, regional German accents (Saxon, Bavarian, and Berlin) resulted in lower perceived competence and hirability than standard German, even though the Bavarian accent at the same time resulted in higher ratings of socio-intellectual status compared to other regional accents (Experiment 1). These findings were confirmed when using a broader population sample and a ‘matched guise’ technique (Experiment 2). Our findings indicate that regional accents, similar to faces, can be very powerful in creating differentiated pictures of individuals.

I am not familiar with perceptions of regional German accents (Andrea would know more), but I have wondered the same thing with regional US accents (my accent has shifted away from the South for a while now).

1:26 pm
August 17, 2011

Andrea_A

Germany

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Post edited 3:20 pm – August 17, 2011 by Andrea_A

There had been a similar publication from this team last year: http://www.sciencedaily.com/re…..145649.htm probably based on Mrs. Rakić's doctoral thesis: http://d-nb.info/994982402/34

I am not familiar with perceptions of regional German accents (Andrea would know more), but I have wondered the same thing with regional US accents (my accent has shifted away from the South for a while now).

Well … Saxon is mostly perceived as being worse (outside Saxony of course ;-) ).

And I got very, very surprised a couple of years ago: Contact to a copy editor with an English sounding name over years only via e-mail, then getting a phone call — and the Englishman spoke perfectly — Saxon …

And a school-friend of my mother went to the Erzgebirge (Saxony), one year before The Wall got built. We are thinking she's having a Saxon accent, but her neighbours say that she is having a Swabian one …

So-called "High German" is thought to be in general linked to the upper class, teachers (and priests). My mother for example states a relative exclusively using standard German as "snobbish".

The official slogan of Baden-Württemberg (Swabia) is "Wir können alles außer Hochdeutsch" (We can do all except [speaking] standard German.)

According to a poll at welt.de Bavarian is at the second position in likeability after Low German http://www.welt.de/vermischtes…..sehen.html

Despite I'm living in Eastern Germany since about five years, my Swabian accent is already in place (I've got not too many private contacts). But I noticed that I started using local words (Broiler for fried chicken, e.g.).

Three years ago I had "prophylactically" to go to the local employment center. The clerk tried to talk me to job in a call center. I told the lady (in Swabian!), that I'm probably not doing well in selling useless things to innocent old ladies … as I'm a bad liar. She agreed that for this kind of job I would have to work on my accent …

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