The easier it is to pronounce your name, the better your chances of finding a good job and making new friends are.
The researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of New York came to this interesting conclusion, studying the ballot papers of the previous elections. Politicians with easily pronounceable names had more chances of being elected than their opponents, whose names required some efforts to be pronounced.
The author of the study, Dr. Simon Laham, said that this effect was associated with the ease of pronouncing the name rather than with its length or “foreign” sounding. In their work, the results of which were published in the “Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,” the scholars have focused on how the name of the person can influence the first impression produced by him/her, and on the decision made by those, who hear the name. They found out that people with common names were perceived more positively.
According to the scientists, “the effect of name pronunciation” often makes people to be discriminated, but they even do not know it. For example, in the legal sphere lawyers with common names become partners sooner than their colleagues with unpronounceable names. The researchers suggest that their findings may help to better understand the problems of bias and discrimination, so widespread in modern society.
