Glottophobia in the great white north: investigating linguistic prejudice between French and English speakers in Canada

Prejudice research has traditionally centered on racial, ethnic, and immigrant-based divisions, often overlooking intergroup tensions between longstanding, non-immigrant linguistic communities. Yet, language can serve as a powerful marker of group identity and exclusion, particularly in multilingual societies with complex historical legacies. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the prevalence and determinants of overt, covert, and implicit prejudice between French- and English-speaking communities in Canada. Drawing on survey data (n = 4277), we assess self-reported attitudes and behavioral associations using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Results show that both linguistic groups harbor strong biases against one another across all three dimensions of prejudice. Among English-speaking respondents, overt prejudice toward French speakers surpasses that directed toward immigrants and Indigenous peoples. Political correctness attitudes have minimal association with positive feelings toward French speakers–contrary to patterns observed for other marginalized groups. Implicit bias scores also reveal negative automatic associations between French and English speakers that are more severe than those observed for other ethnic and racial groups in Canada. For both linguistic groups, right-wing ideology is a consistent predictor of such prejudice, while minority status is linked to lower out-group bias. These findings underscore the importance of linguistic cleavages in shaping intergroup relations.