How Speech Shapes Your Identity with Dr. Katherine Kinzler

Forrest is joined by pioneering psychologist Dr. Katherine Kinzler to explore how our speech shapes our social identity, and the views we hold about other people. A big part of human nature is to rapidly sort people into two groups: “like me,” and “not like me.” Our general tendency is to gravitate toward people we perceive as “like me,” and avoid and oppose people we perceive as “not like me.” We use many different kinds of markers to determine which group a person belongs to: markers like perceived race, gender, political affiliation, and social class. But there’s an often-overlooked factor that might influence how we view ourselves and others even more powerfully: the way we speak. About Our Guest: Dr. Kinzler is a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, and the leader of the Development of Social Cognition Laboratory. She’s also the author of the wonderful book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do―And What It Says About You. Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link. Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube. Key Ideas: 2:25: Why language is such an important signifier of identity. 8:15: Why the brain cares so much about categories. 10:50: Brain plasticity and early language acquisition. 13:50: Language bias and dialectical prejudice. 19:15: Interventions for limiting linguistic prejudice. 23:00: How dialect changes as identity changes. 28:50: Consequences of dialectical prejudice. 34:30: Dialectical prejudice in the courtroom. 36:30: What can we do about dialect prejudice? 40:50: Positive results of bilingual exposure. 45:00: Becoming a better communicator. 49:00: Katherine’s “wave a magic wand” change. 51:30: When to start talking with kids about language. 53:00: Recap Sponsors: From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription. Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic. Connect with the show: Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices