Emily Heavner

Date of Award

August 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

Kara Wettersten

Abstract

Bias against people from rural areas is ingrained in American culture, and stereotypes that people from rural regions are backwards, uneducated, and unintelligent are prevalent (Fulkerson & Thomas, 2016; Hartman et al., 2023; Howley, 2009; Shirley, 2010). Many people from rural areas have accents that mark them as coming from a rural region (Flanigan, 2000). Research suggests that accent is a reminder that the speaker is from a different cultural group than the listener, triggering biases and stereotypes about the speaker (Chakraborty, 2017). Because accent and rural culture are not often discussed as part of multicultural competence, many mental health professionals may not be aware they are prejudiced against individuals they perceive as rural. This study explored mental health professionals’ attitudes towards individuals with rural accents. The author hypothesized that mental health professionals would perceive a client with a rural accent as less competent, lower social status, less educated, less attractive as a client, and less socially and psychologically functional than a client with no recognizable accent. Mental health professionals and trainees (N = 110) listened to an audio clip created using the matched guise technique of a mock client with either a neutral or rural, i.e. South Midland, accent describing their presenting concerns. Participants were then asked to answer survey questions about their perceptions of the client on the study’s dependent variables. Results indicated that participants perceived the client with a rural accent as having less education, lower social status, and more psychiatric dysfunction than the client with a neutral accent. These results suggest that mental health professionals are impacted by biases and stereotypes about people from rural areas. These biases could have a significant impact on the treatment mental health professionals provide to clients from rural areas as well as access to care for people in rural areas.

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