Children’s Accent-Based Preferences and Stereotypes in Media Contexts

Children spend a substantial amount of time consuming screen media—particularly television and mobile apps. Research has shown that non-native and non-standard accents tend to be underrepresented in adult-oriented and children’s media, and that representations of accents tend to be stereotypical in nature. Relatedly, research has shown that children demonstrate social preferences and ascribe traits on the basis of spoken accents. In a series of four experiments, the present research investigated children’s accent-based preferences and stereotypes in two media contexts. Children aged 5-6 and 9-10 years selected characters from a variety of exemplars that spoke in different accents to play different archetypical characters in a television program (Study 1) or to serve as teachers in an educational mobile app (Study 2). Study 1 (Experiments 1 and 2) showed that children generally preferred for television characters to speak with a native, Canadian accent (compared to high-status British and non-native accents). However, 9-10-year-old children held stereotypes about the Russian accent specifically, and preferred for negative television characters (e.g., mad scientist, villain) to speak with a Russian accent. The same pattern was not observed for Chinese or Indian accents. Study 2 (Experiments 3 and 4) revealed that children generally preferred for teaching characters in educational apps to speak with a native, Canadian accent (compared to high-status British and non-native accents), particularly when the subject matter being taught was culturally neutral (e.g., oceans, space). Children aged 9-10 preferred for teaching characters to speak with non-native accents (Russian, Chinese, and Indian) when the subject matter was culturally relevant (e.g., Russian dancing, Chinese pottery, Indian cuisine). Findings of this research contribute to our knowledge about children’s accent-based biases in social perception and accent-based assumptions about cultural expertise, and may help guide the development of more inclusive and less stereotypical media offerings for children.