Simple names win more favours

Having a simple, easy-to-pronounce name is more likely to win you friends and favour in the workplace, an international study has found. The researchers analysed how the pronunciation of names can influence impression formation and decision-making.  In particular, they demonstrated “the name pronunciation effect,” which occurs when people with easy–to-pronounce names are evaluated more positively than those with difficult-to-pronounce names.

The study revealed that: people with more pronounceable names were more likely to be favoured for political office and job promotions; political candidates with easy-to-pronounce names were more likely to win a race than those without, based on a mock ballot study, and; attorneys with more pronounceable names rose more quickly to superior positions in their firm hierarchies, based on a field study of 500 first and last names of US lawyers

Dr Simon Laham, University of Melbourne

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology; http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-751