Perspective Taking as a Means of Reducing Negative Stereotyping of Individuals Who Speak English as a Second Language1

Abstract

As a test of the hypothesis that perspective taking reduces stereotyping of individuals who speak English as a second language, 160 college students participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment. Participants heard an audio recording of either a native or non‐native speaker of English. Then, they wrote a paragraph about the speaker either with instructions to take the speaker's perspective or with no perspective‐taking instructions. Finally, they rated the speaker on characteristics related to ability and accomplishment. Overall, the participants rated the native speaker of English more highly than the non‐native speaker. However, supporting the hypothesis, participants instructed to take the perspective of the non‐native speaker rated her more highly than did participants not instructed to take her perspective.