The influence of ethnocentrism on social perceptions of nonnative accents

This study examines the relationship between ethnocentrism and perceptions of nonnative accents. Participants were assigned to either an experimental or a control group. After completing a measure of ethnocentrism, participants in both groups were exposed to one of two videos of the same speaker delivering a speech on the benefits of exercise. The videos were identical except that the speaker in the video viewed by the experimental group spoke with a nonnative accent while the speaker viewed by the control group spoke with a standard American accent. For the experimental group, ethnocentrism was negatively and significantly correlated with perceptions of the speaker's physical, social, and task attractiveness, his credibility, and perceived homophily. For the control group, none of the correlations were significant.