The Effects of Dialect, Gender, and Group Identity on Person Perception

The current study examined the influence of dialect, gender, and group identification on the person perception process. Participants listened to a message delivered in either a standard or southern dialect by either a male or female speaker. The researcher examined differences in speaker evaluations based on the speaker\u27s dialect and gender. The impact of individual differences in southern identification on speaker evaluations was also explored. Results demonstrated that a southern dialect significantly affects perceptions of the speaker. The speaker\u27s gender and participants\u27 level of southern identification interacted with dialect to influence speaker evaluations on a number of measures. Results were discussed in terms of previous research. Implications for southern (and other nonstandard) speakers were also highlighted