Eastern Kentucky University Encompass Online Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship January 2014 The Effect of Appalachian Regional Dialect on Performance Appraisal and Leadership Perceptions Amie Sparks Ball Eastern Kentucky University Follow this and additional works at:https://encompass.eku.edu/etd Part of theCognitive Psychology Commons, and theSocial Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Ball, Amie Sparks, "The Effect of Appalachian Regional Dialect on Performance Appraisal and Leadership Perceptions" (2014).Online Theses and Dissertations. 203. https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/203 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Online Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please [email protected]. THE EFFECT OF APPALACHIAN REGIONAL DIALECT ON PERFROMANCE APPRASAL AND LEADERSHIP PERCEPTIONS By Amie Sparks Ball Master of Science Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky 2014 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Eastern Kentucky University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE May, 2014 Copyright © Amie Sparks Ball, 2014 All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my thesis chair, Dr. Catherine Clement, for her help and guidance. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Yoshie Nakai and Dr. Jonathan Gore, for their assistance over the past two years. I would like to express my thanks to my husband, Tyler, and my parents, John and Sheila, for their support and encouragement throughout this process. iii Abstract Speakers of Appalachian English face unique difficulties in the workplace. Long-held stereotypes of Appalachian English speakers can lead to unfair presumptions about a person's competence and professionalism. Previous research has shown stereotyping on the basis of non-standard dialect can affect recruitment and hiring decisions made by employers. The present study addresses the possibility that these biases extend beyond the hiring process by investigating the impact of Appalachian regional dialect on performance appraisal, perceptions of leadership potential, promotion potential, status perceptions, and solidarity perceptions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1 II. Methods..........................................................................................................23 III. Results……………………………………………………...……………….28 IV. Discussion………………………………………...………………………...34 List of References.........……………………………………………...…………...44 Appendices …………….…………………………………………………………50 A. Statement of Consent ……………………........………………………50 B. Researcher Script..………………………………..…………………….52 C. Participant Instructions............................................................................57 D. Audio Work Sample Scripts....................................................................59 E. Performance Appraisal............................................................................64 F. Perceptions of Leadership Potential Scale..............................................66 G. Status and Solidarity Perception Scales..................................................69 H. Manipulation Check................................................................................72 I. Demographics..........................................................................................74 J. Debriefing Form......................................................................................76 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Throughout history, members of stigmatized groups have faced unique difficulties in the workforce. Long-standing stereotypes about these groups can have a profound influence on the way employers view an individual's intelligence, competence, and overall employability. For this reason, the US government has set in place a system to protect individuals from discrimination based on several factors that may unduly impact their chances in the job market. Race, sex, and religion are just a few of the protected classes that employers may not use as a basis for decision making. While these protections have reduced the impact of stereotypes in the workplace, many other factors that can impact an employer's perceptions are not addressed by these government protections. As one of these unaddressed factors, regional dialect may impact the employment prospects of a large segment of the US population. Regional dialects are defined as those varieties of speech that differ from the standard in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary and are easily tied to specific geographic regions. Dozens of unique regional dialects exist throughout the United States, and many of these are stigmatized. One of the most derided regional dialects is known throughout the linguistic community as Appalachian English. Appalachian English is a dialect found throughout the American Southern Midlands. It is most commonly spoken in Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Tennessee, West Virginia, and other locations throughout the central portion of the Appalachian Mountains. 1 Speakers of this dialect are known for their language's unique phonetic, grammatical, and lexical features which have come to be associated with low income, lack of education, and naïveté (Luhman, 1990). Many thousands of people who speak this dialect have faced intense scrutiny in their everyday lives as a result of the negative stereotypes that have long been associated with Appalachian speech. Unfair presumptions about intelligence, class, professionalism, and many other factors relevant to employment may greatly influence the job prospects of Appalachian English speakers. Workplace discrimination on the basis of Appalachian dialect may not end after the hiring process. If this unfair bias continues to haunt employees after they are hired, it can impact their prospects for promotion and advancement within their field. Once hired, opportunities for advancement largely depend on performance appraisals and perceptions of potential for leadership. The present literature review will examine stereotypes and their role in impression formation, stereotypes for Appalachian English speakers, the effect of dialect on recruitment and selection, bias in performance appraisal, leadership stereotypes and leadership perception research. Dialect and Impression Formation The first section of this literature review will focus on impression formation and stereotypes and the role dialects can play in impression formation. One of the mechanisms by which we develop and utilize stereotypes is automatic processing. Our cognitions can be grouped into two basic categories--controlled, and automatic. Controlled cognitions are deliberate and effortful. Automatic cognitions are fast, easy, and completed outside our conscious awareness. Since controlled cognitions require 2