How does clothing affect us psychologically?
An attempt has been made to provide a critical review of key research areas in the social psychology of clothing.
We identify the theoretical approaches used to conduct research in these areas, provide an abbreviated research background in these areas highlighting key findings, and identify future directions and research possibilities.
Customer psychology
A few nineteenth-century social scientists studied dress in relation to culture, individuals, and social groups, but it was not until the mid-twentieth century that home economists began to focus on aspects of the social sciences of clothing (Roach-Higgins).
A range of topics can be included under the term social psychology of clothing, but we use it to refer to research that attempts to answer questions regarding how beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, feelings, and behaviors of an individual in clothing are shaped by others and oneself.
Color psychology
The researchers used color theory in context to study the effects of the red dress on impressions related to sexual intention, attractiveness, dominance and competence.
In their first experience, they found that women found the stimulating woman to be more sexually receptive when wearing a red dress than when wearing a white dress.
Because women wearing red are seen to be more sexually receptive and have greater sexual intention than when wearing other colors.
The researchers expected men who saw the woman in the red dress to choose intimate questions to ask and that's what they found.
Since red is associated with sexual receptivity, red clothing should be studied as part of provocative clothing research.
Researchers interested in media portrayals of girls and women could study the effects of the red dress on perceptions of sexual intention and objectification.
The results of this study are similar to those of researchers studying the red dress who found that the color red is associated with cultural significance that affects both the wearer and the viewer of the red dress (Roberts et al).
While none of these three studies articulated a specific theory to guide their research, Adams and Galinsky described a locked-in cognitive framework, which explained that the dress affects wearers due to the symbolic meaning of the dress and the physical experience of wearing this article of clothing.
Dress Code and Behavior
To summarize the research on the effects of dress on wearer behavior, each of these studies reported research focusing on a sartorial cue associated with cultural significance.
In a sample of 203 young adult women, negative body speech was linked to body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem, and was associated with greater investment in appearance, distorted thoughts about the body, behaviors messy eating and depression (Rudiger and Winstead).
In an investigation of the significance of the dress, in this case the significance of a specific body modification ,tattoo.
Mun et al interviewed women of various ages who had tattoos to assess the meanings, changes in self-perception as a result of the tattoo, and any changes in the behavior of women as a result of the tattoo.
The social psychology of dress
To summarize the research on the effects of dress on wearer behavior, each of these studies reported research focusing on a sartorial cue associated with cultural significance.
Some researchers first had to determine this meaning. The manipulations were designed in such a way that the meaning of the clothing cues is salient for the context of the manipulation.
For example, in objectification studies, the revealing character of the dress varied in the context of a dressing room mirror where the revealing character of the tail would be relevant.
So, to extend the enclosed cognitive framework, we suggest that for the dress to affect the wearer, the context of the experimental task should be such that the meaning of the article of clothing is salient.