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Sounding Black or White: priming identity and biracial speech
Sarah E Gaither1, Ariel M Cohen-Goldberg2, Calvin L Gidney3
1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL USA ; Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|May 6, 2015
Summary
Priming racial identity influences how biracial individuals sound. Black-primed participants sounded more Black, and White-primed participants sounded more White, affecting speech perception.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociolinguistics
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Racial identity priming affects biracial individuals' social behavior.
- Language serves as a social group marker, influenced by context.
- Limited research exists on racial identity priming's effect on biracial speech.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if priming racial identity influences the speech of biracial individuals.
- To determine if auditory perception of race is affected by racial identity priming in biracial persons.
Main Methods:
- Audio clips from biracial Black/White participants were used.
- Participants' Black or White racial identity was primed.
- Condition-blind coders rated the perceived race in audio clips.
Main Results:
- Black-primed participants were rated as sounding significantly more Black.
- White-primed participants were rated as sounding significantly more White.
- Linguistic analyses of speech features were inconclusive.
Conclusions:
- Racial identity priming can alter speech perception in biracial individuals.
- Further research is needed on the intersection of social identity and language behavior in biracial populations.
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