No Mean City: Glaswegian accent most 'honourable' in study of accents and crime

Study ‘undermines traditional stereotypes’ about working class and higher status men when it comes to criminal tendancies

The Glaswegian accent has been found to be most closely associated with honourable behaviour in a study of accents and perception of offenders.

The study, led by Cambridge University, found those with a Glaswegian accent were perceived to be the least likely to commit a sex offence. Those with a Cockney accent were perceived to be the most likely, with those from Liverpool next on the list.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Those with a “posh English” accent - or Received Pronunciation - came third on the list of those most likely to commit a sex offence - but the least likely to take part in overall criminal behaviour.

Lead author Alice Paver, from Cambridge University’s phonetics laboratory, said the findings undermined traditional class-based stereotypes and found that “some accents sounded guiltier than others”

Ms Paver, a PhD student, said: “This finding simultaneously undermines certain traditional stereotypes about both higher status and working-class men.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This may indicate shifting perceptions of the ‘type’ of man who can and does commit sexual offences.”

She said the research suggests sexual offences “don’t really have an association with class in the same way that a lot of crimes do”, such as so-called blue collar or white collar crime.

The fact those speaking with an RP accent were perceived more likely to commit a sexual assault than any of the other offences tested could indicate a change in attitudes around who might carry out this type of crime, researchers said.

Meanwhile, Glaswegians came in eight place out of 10 when it came to those perceived to be most likely to commit any offence, discounting sex offences. Those with a Liverpool accent were perceived to be the most likely, followed by those with a Bradford accent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Participants also rated the accents on various behaviours such as returning a lost wallet to its owner and standing up for someone who is being harassed, to types of crime from shoplifting to touching someone sexually without consent.

While the authors accepted the participant group was small, they said they believed it was still a representative group, covering all four nations of the UK and looking into more types of crime and a wider range of accents than previous studies.

The authors said theirs is the first research to identify links between listener perceptions of morality, criminality, and social traits and they warned of the disadvantage some people could face in the criminal justice system because of the way they speak.

Ms Paver said: “Our findings bring into sharp focus the disadvantage that speakers of some accents may still face in the criminal justice system.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Voices play a powerful role in the criminal justice system and police officers, lawyers and juries are all susceptible to judging voices based on stereotypes, whether they’re aware of it or not.“

As things stand, listeners think some accents sound guiltier than others and we should all be concerned about that.”

The research was carried out in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University.

The peer-reviewed research, published on Friday in the Frontiers in Communication journal, recorded less positive ratings for kindness, honesty, friendliness and trustworthiness for the Newcastle accent than previous studies.

But the Birmingham accent, which they noted had rated poorly for these traits previously, came out better in this research than Bradford, Bristol, Liverpool, London and Newcastle.

Related topics:

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.

Dare to be Honest
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice