Consequences of perceived accent discrimination for psychological adjustment and resilience effects

This study examines whether an element of intergroup communication - perceived accent discrimination - is related to negative psychological outcomes, and whether personal characteristics can moderate this relation. Specifically, the objectives of this study are to explore whether ethnolinguistic identity and perceived legitimacy of discrimination interact to moderate the relation between perceived accent discrimination and daily language hassles as well as self-esteem. First language French speakers from regions where French is a minority language (n = 131) completed a series of questionnaires. Moderated moderation analyses were conducted using PROCESS for SPSS. These revealed that perceived discrimination is positively and significantly related to daily language hassles for those who have a weaker francophone identity and who perceive discrimination as being more legitimate. Francophone identity and perceived illegitimacy of discrimination were therefore found to protect against perceived daily language hassles, but not self-esteem.