I'm sure there is such a correlation, because

• experience and skill leads good programmers to picking languages that are better for them, in which they're more productive, and
• working in a language forms how programmers think and influences their methods and skills.

Is there any research or some statistical data of this phenomenon?

Perhaps this is not a purely academic question. For example, if someone is starting a new project, it could be worth considering a language (among other criteria of course) for which there is a higher chance of finding or attracting experienced programmers.

Update: Please don't fixate on the last paragraph. It's not my intention to choose a language based on this criterion, and I know there are other far more important ones. My interested is mostly academic. It comes from the (subjective) observation and I wonder if someone has researched it a bit. Also, I'm talking about a correlation, not about a rule. Sure there are both great and terrible programmers in every language. Just that in general it seems to me there is a correlation.