A recent study was conducted by Alice Paver at the University of Cambridge with assistance from Dr David Wright, Prof Natalie Braber, and Dr Nikolas Pautz from Nottingham Trent University. Its project name was Improving Voice Identification Procedures, which was sponsored by the ESRC. The study, published in Frontiers in Communication, explained how accents influence perceptions of guilt, revealing that the “lower status” accents were perceived as guilty much more frequently of criminal behaviour.
Methodology:
Researchers from the Improving Voice Identification Procedures project examined responses from 180 participants who assessed 10 UK regional accents on characteristics such as kindness and trustworthiness, and many more, including the likelihood of committing various behaviours, including crimes.
The voice recordings used were of accents from Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, and SSBE. All recordings were normalized to remove extraneous artefacts, and all responses were coded up to find patterns in perceived social traits and behaviours.
Key Findings:
- Social Status and Criminality: The primary findings suggest that perceived social status inferred through accents significantly determines assumptions about criminality over such traits as trust or kindness. Lower-status accents were more readily associated with criminal behaviour, focusing attention on how social stereotypes determine judgment. Still, no direct relationship was established between how “criminal” a voice sounded and how kind or trustworthy it was. Interestingly, SSBE – rated high on status traits – was less associated with most crimes but not with sexual assault, which showed clear perceptions.
- Regional Variation: Although SSBE was very high on status and confident traits, accents like Liverpool and Glasgow were more strongly linked to crime and morally objectionable behavior. Researchers pointed out that these prejudices could lead to discrimination and false judgments in courts, especially if voice evidence is presented.
- Bias in Crime Types: Most crimes were associated with lower-status accents, except for sexual assault, which did not follow traditional class stereotypes.
- Trait Clusters: It categorized attributes into four groups: “solidarity” (which included the attributes of kindness), “status” (which had to do with wealth), “confident,” and “working class.” Criminality perceptions were highly correlated with the “working class” cluster.
Conclusion and call for future research:
The study demands heightened awareness of accent-based prejudices in the justice system. The team proposes pre-testing, to determine bias in voice line-ups, and guidelines that prevent accent-based discrimination. Further research with diverse voices and stronger accents are also suggested by the team for a better understanding of these biases. This study highlights the fact that judgment of accents, particularly when in the domain of the law, cannot be superficial because stereotypes may become real life.
Read More – The Role of Psychology in Criminal Profiling
