According to a recent study by the psychologists at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, “Accent is much more important than the way a person looks”.
An accent is a way to classify people quickly and to make sense of the world. This is good in some respects, but may lead to people being classified by perceived negative traits from a class or ethnic group.
Learning an accent to use in work or social situations then, may lead others to perceive you the way that you prefer.
Read more about the study.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-typically-italian-isnt.html