Voice matters: Social categorization and stereotyping of speakers based on sexual orientation and nationality categories

Fabio Fasoli, Marko Dragojevic, Tamara Rakić, Susie Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This research examined how listeners categorize and stereotype speakers belonging to intersecting social categories (nationality; sexual orientation) based on voice alone. In Study 1, British heterosexuals categorized the nationality and sexual orientation of British and Italian speakers who self-identified as gay or heterosexual. Participants correctly categorized British speakers as co-nationals and Italian speakers as foreigners. Categorization accuracy of gay speakers’ sexual orientation was poor. Italian gay speakers were perceived as most likely to be gay and non-native speakers. Study 2 examined stereotyping of speakers who sounded either native or foreign, and sounded either gay or heterosexual. Foreign-accented (vs. native-accented) speakers were rated as less competent, and gay-sounding (vs. heterosexual-sounding) speakers as less gender typical. Foreign-accented gay speakers were perceived as the least competent and gender typical.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)114-128
Number of pages15
JournalLanguage and Communication
Volume90
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Factulty of Health and Medical Sciences (FHMS) University of Surrey awared to the first author.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Accent
  • Sexual orientation
  • Social categorization
  • Stereotyping
  • Voice

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Communication
  • Linguistics and Language

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