Skip to main content
BBC NEWS / SCOTLAND
Graphics VersionBBC Sport Home
News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

Friday, 19 May 2006, 01:07 GMT 02:07 UK

Scots identity linked to accent

High street Scottish identity has more to do with a person's accent and place of birth than their race, according to new research.

A survey of more than 1,500 people found most believed that having the right accent made you Scottish - not the colour of your skin.

Nine out of 10 people surveyed said a non-white person who spoke with a local accent could claim to be Scottish.

But fewer than half said they would view someone born in England as a Scot, even if they had a Scottish accent.

The results of the study will be the subject of a seminar at Edinburgh University on Friday.

Send us your views

It also found 11% of those asked would regard a non-white person as Scottish if they were both born south of the border and spoke with an English accent.

That figure rose to 15% for a white person.

Professor David McCrone, one of the authors of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, said it showed that identity was not a "fixed badge".

"Our various studies show that identity is a set of flexible claims made in context and varying according to circumstances," he said.

The survey of over-18s was carried out by the Scottish Centre for Social Research as part of a series of studies into national identity at the Institute of Governance at Edinburgh University.



E-mail this to a friend
Related to this story:
Census to gauge national identity (08 Mar 06 |  UK )
Putting Scotland in perspective (15 Mar 06 |  Scotland )
Calls for dot Scot web identity (29 Nov 05 |  Scotland )
Public's views of Scotland sought (28 Nov 05 |  Scotland )
Anti-English claims "a myth" (03 Sep 02 |  Scotland )
Racism bar to 'Scottishness' (13 Apr 00 |  Scotland )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Edinburgh University
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC NEWS: 

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

NewsWatch | Notes | Contact us | About BBC News | Profiles | History

^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©