23-05-2025
American Millennials find Scottish accents the most trustworthy in the world
American Millennials find Scottish accents the most trustworthy in the world
Our US cousins were polled on which brouges put them at ease.
12 states voted the Scottish accent the most trustworthy
(Image: George Clerk via Getty Images )
We Scots are famed for having a gorgeous range of accents, but a new study has revealed that our voices are also see as trustworthy to certain people. Many of our American cousins across the Atlantic associated a good, Scottish brogue with honesty and dependability.
This won't come as a huge surprise to many of us, given that those in the US are constantly swooning over a Scots accent, and our voices have even been deemed the UK's sexiest.
But the study, carried out by Podcastle, dug a little deeper and found that our lilt is especially warming to US Millennials. That generation, who are mostly now in their 30s, found the Scottish accent to be the most trustworthy in the world.
This comes off the back of a survey in 2023, which saw the Scottish accent voted by Americans as the most charming in the world, surpassing all other competing accents in Britain.
In this previous poll it was also named the second most beautiful accent, as well as the second most attractive accent in the world. Scottish was also the second most calming and the second most funny accent.
The Podcastle poll took in the opinions of 1,000 Americans, and found that our Stateside cousins were more inclined to trust people on this side of the Atlantic.
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And there was a distinct lack of trust for people with a New York accent. Less than one in 10 found in trustworthy, and a Southern American lilt was significantly preferred to their Big Apple compatriots.
Americans found UK accents - especially RP and Scottish brogues - to be the most trustworthy
(Image: Podcastle )
A total of 12 US states voted the Scottish accent the most trustworthy, but it wasn't the overall winner as the Received Pronunciation (RP) accent was voted the most trustworthy on the whole.
The stereotypical well-articulated, south of England brogue was seen as comforting and honest by a whopping 26 states in the poll.
The RP accent, which has also been known as 'The Queen's English' or 'BBC English' - a term in the Cambridge Dictionary - was the most appealing and calming for 40 per cent of Americans.
The most attractive accent overall was the British RP accent, known as 'the Queen's English'
(Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage )
It was also revealed that those sporting this style of pronunciation are the most desired for podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube, and TikTok.
The Southern American accent came in second place, with 31 per cent of Americans saying they found it trustworthy and 70 per cent associating it with calmness.
However, it still trailed the British RP accent in every major trust and preference category. The British RP accent wasn't just seen as trustworthy, but also proved to be a hit in the romance department.
Nearly 40 per cent of Baby Boomers in the US said they find British accents the most romantic, preferring them over Latin American or Australian tones.
And while Millennials were more inclined to trust a Scot, Gen-Z leant towards a more neutral American tone.
Arto Yeritsyan, Podcastle's CEO explained how this accent can influence how Americans feel about the speaker.
Benedict Cumberbatch's accent is a textbook example of British RP
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The CEO said: 'Whether it's David Attenborough, Emma Thompson, or Benedict Cumberbatch, it's clear that the British RP accent signals intelligence, warmth, and trustworthiness to American ears."
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The expert highlighted the importance of accents in media, saying: "This isn't just about how we speak – it's about how we're perceived.
"For content creators, choosing the right voice can be just as important as what's being said.'
