Spotting the 'Outsider'?

A 1960s study, found that US residents of Martha's Vineyard (Massachusetts), started emphasising their accents, when feeling overrun by wealthy summer visitors. By doing this, they may have been attempting to distinguish themselves, for the benefit of other locals. A study recently published in Evolutionary Human Sciences looks at rather similar issues. Researchers played volunteers 2-3 second audio clips of 7 regional British accents. Some were authentic and others 'fake'. The accents selected were 'Geordie' (NE England); Belfast (Northern Ireland); Dublin (Eire); Bristol (SW England); Glasgow (Scotland); Essex (SE England) and 'Received Pronunciation' ('upper class' English, as spoken in the 1950s, on the BBC). In nearly 2 out of 3 cases, volunteers spotted the fake accents. Southern English volunteers were, however, markedly worse at doing this, than counterparts from the North, Scotland or Ireland (North or South). The researchers tentatively linked this to historical tensions across the UK. Northeners, Scots and the Irish might have had to become more adept at spotting outsiders, than their Southern counterparts (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/20/southerners-among-worst-at-spotting-fake-english-accents-study-finds). Dialects confer a sense of identity. They may certainly be used to help identify a spy or potentially dangerous outsider. Having said that, however, Southern England gets a much higher influx of folk with varied accents, than the other regions. Perhaps, accent is consequently less of a 'badge' there?