The Role of Accent on East Asians’ Leadership

Abstract

Not only do leaders influence followers, but followers also play a vital role in shaping leadership. Through two studies, I examined whether East Asian leaders with a foreign accent would be less respected by their followers than those without an accent. Additionally, I studied whether receiving respect from followers would affect foreign-accented East Asians’ leadership. In an experimental study (N = 150), I found that a foreign-accented East Asian leader was perceived as less effective and relatively poor at facilitating followers to cooperate toward a group goal than an East Asian leader without an accent. As a result, a foreign-accented East Asian leader was perceived as having less legitimate power to influence others. In Study 2 (N = 181), I surveyed actual leaders and found that foreign-accented East Asian leaders perceived less respect from followers than non-accented East Asian leaders and White leaders with and without a foreign accent. Moreover, foreign-accented East Asian leaders reported significantly more negative leader outcomes (leader identity strength and leadership self-efficacy) than foreign-accented and non-accented White leaders. These findings suggest that difficulties foreign-accented East Asian leaders face in the workplace may not be illuminated if the focus is only on race.