Psychologists have revealed how accents affect how people are judged, which could be particularly helpful when it comes to people looking to land senior practitioner jobs.

As reported by ScienceDaily, psychologists found that accents cause people to classify others into social categories spontaneously which can turn into stereotype-based judgement and discrimination. "With our language we are not only transmitting information," explained Dr Tamara Rakic, leader of the study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "Language itself provides a lot of information about the person speaking."

The majority of studies have looked at how appearances influence perceptions of people, but this study shows just how important the way people speak can also affect perceptions.

In fact, people form conclusions about the temperament, age, or state of mind of someone the moment they hear an accent, the study claims.

The participants were given photos of German and Italian looking people together with a written statement of the person in the photo. They had to assign statements to the photo of the person, but mix-ups were common when relying on appearance alone. When statements were read in accents, fewer errors were made.

It raises important questions about how potential candidates will be perceived in job interviews and is useful information for anyone looking make a good impression and land a job.