Stereotyped accent judgements in forensic contexts: listener perceptions of social traits and types of behaviour

This paper reports the findings from a multidisciplinary and cross-institutional Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project called ‘Improving Voice Identification Procedures’ (IVIP). People harbour stereotypes about particular accents, and those judgements may be brought with them into the legal domain. Considering the potential consequences of accent judgements by witnesses and jurors, this study examines the relationship between characteristics and the likelihood of acting in certain criminal and non-criminal ways. Overall, 180 participants completed an accent judgement task, rating 10 regionally-accented voices on a range of traits and behaviours using a wider range of accents, behaviours and criminal offences than previous research. Results indicate that evaluations of perceived characteristics based on accent translate into evaluations of likely behaviours. The discussion explores the forensic implications of the relationships between perceived status and criminality, as well as between solidarity judgements and morally good actions. We emphasise the need for nuanced understanding of how accents are evaluated when it comes to different crime types.