How accent and gender influence perceptions of competence and warmth in the medical profession

Bibliographic Data

ID8250070
AuthorsTamara Rakić (0000-0002-8591-923X, Lancaster University, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume3
Issue2
Pages218-231
Publication date2019-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Language and Discrimination (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2397-2645 • E-ISSN: 2397-2637
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/jld.39960
OpenAlexW2997379270
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited17

Previous research has shown that we evaluate social categories differently based on the two fundamental dimensions of competence and warmth. Findings indicate that doctors, men and standard accents are perceived as more competent, while nurses, women and regional accents are perceived as warmer. In a short experiment manipulating gender (man; woman), occupation (doctor; nurse) and accent (Standard British English; regional accent), participants rated the targets on perceived competence, warmth and status. The main results showed that doctors were rated as more competent providing they spoke using Standard British English, and warmer, as long as they spoke with a regional accent. This poses a potential problem, as doctors need to be perceived as competent in their diagnoses and treatment decisions, but also warm in their communication of important and sensitive information. The implications of these findings are discussed in order to highlight the importance of using multiple social categories to represent the complexity of everyday interactions

Linguistics · Perception · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Psychology · Social Psychology