Introduction Social factors such as class, gender and age strongly dictate one’s behavioural norms, by associating themselves with the people whom they are closest to (Chambers 1995: p.7). Social factors can either determine or impose particular attitudes about certain social groups which evoke positive or negative attitudes, such as language prestige and stigmatization. Linguistic insecurity can act as a catalyst to motivate sound change and can be a defining factor for a speech community (Labov 1972: p. 132) Furthermore, the effects of linguistic insecurity can have a detrimental impact on language use to a degree that it becomes a disrupting force of a conversation or result in hypercorrections in speech (Baron 1976: 1). This essay will explore the extent to which linguistic insecurity influences language use in society by referring to the: 1) effects of linguistic insecurity 2) linguistic insecurity within cross-linguistic contexts 3) figure out as u go along. Furthermore, the arguments made will be predominantly centralized around Labov’s NYC Department Store Study (Labov 1972: p. 48-69) and Trudgill’s Norwich study reference, in addition to considering other sociolinguistic viewpoints such as the Accommodation Theory reference and the Attention to Speech Model reference. Hypercorrection as a product of linguistic insecurity Wiliam Labov’s research in social stratification in New York City formed a fundamental role when observing linguistic insecurity. When examining