A new study from the University of Texas at Austin found that the way people speak Spanish can drive judgments about their intelligence and social class without even understanding what they're saying.

The researchers had 120 native English speakers listen to recordings of speakers of Spanish from different regions of the world and then rate their intelligence and social class. The listeners consistently rated speakers with a "Castilian" accent, which is associated with Spain, as more intelligent and of higher social class than speakers with other accents, such as the "Mexican" or "Caribbean" accents.

The researchers say that these findings are consistent with the social stratification of Spanish speakers in the United States, in which speakers with a Castilian accent are often seen as more educated and successful than speakers with other accents.

The researchers say that the study is also consistent with the "accent bias" that is found in other languages, in which speakers with certain accents are judged to be less intelligent or less capable than speakers with other accents.

The study is published in the journal "Language, Cognition and Neuroscience."

The researchers say that the study has implications for education, employment, and other areas of life in which people are judged based on their speech. They say that the findings highlight the importance of being aware of the biases that we may have towards people who speak different accents, and the need to treat all people with respect regardless of their accent.