Abstract
This study used the "matched-guise" technique to assess prejudices and predicted that both Black and White subjects would rate Blacks lower than they rated White accented speakers and would rate Ghetto Black (GB) accents lower then they would rate Middle Class Black (MB) or Middle Class White (MW) accents on personality characteristics. Thirty-seven Black and 37 White subjects participated in the study. They listened to a prerecorded reading presented by male and female speakers representing GB, MB, and MW accents and rated personality on 16 dimensions. Using a three-way analysis of variance, results indicated a significant accent main effect and a significant population by accent interaction. Orthogonal comparisons revealed that GB accents were rated lower than MB or MW accents by White subjects, Black subjects rated GB accents no different than they rated MB or MW accents, and White subjects did not rate MB accents significantly different from MW accents. The results were interpreted in light of Black-White relations today.
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