Voice-Based Discrimination: Impact on Comprehensibility and Employability Evaluations of Speakers with Multiple Voice-Signaled Stigmatized Identities

Abstract

Voice, or the acoustic properties present in it, is a potent cue to social categorization and impression formation, potentially prompting listeners to stereotype and discriminate against speakers. This is the case, for example, for speakers who are perceived as being newcomers or gay due to their second language (L2) accent or stereotypically “gay” voice (Fasoli et al., 2017; Ryan, 1983). In this study, I examined how Calgarians’ evaluations of speaker comprehensibility and employability differ as a function of speakers’ language background, voice-signaled sexual orientation, and job type. Participants listened to audio recordings where a hypothetical job applicant answered a job interview question. Speakers differed in their language background (English vs. Spanish) and voice-signaled sexual orientation (heterosexual- vs. gay-sounding). Additionally, the target jobs differed along two continua: occupational communication demands and occupational sexual orientation stereotypicality. Generalized linear mixed-effects models revealed that speaker comprehensibility was predicted by the three-way interactions among speaker first language (L1), speaker voice-signaled sexual orientation, and job type. L1 English speakers were consistently perceived as more comprehensible than L2 English speakers. Furthermore, when applying to gay-typed jobs and jobs with high communication demands, gay- sounding speakers were rated significantly more difficult to understand than heterosexual- sounding speakers, with the gay-sounding L2 speaker receiving the lowest ratings. Speaker employability was predicted by the interaction between speakers’ L1 and voice-signaled sexual orientation, where the gay-sounding L2 speaker received significantly lower employability evaluations than speakers whose voice signaled one stigmatized identity (“newcomer” or “gay man”). Speaker employability was further predicted by the interaction between speaker sexual orientation and occupational sexual orientation stereotypicality, with gay-sounding speakers (regardless of their L1) receiving higher employability ratings if applying to gay-typed jobs in comparison with heterosexual-typed jobs. This study represents a first step in considering how intersecting language varieties that deviate from the “norm” and are associated with stigmatized groups can influence linguistic- and professional-related evaluations while also considering the effects of job type.