CAN CLOTHES INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK?
BY: ENAYA WICKREMAGE
Have you ever put on a new outfit and suddenly felt more confident? Maybe wearing a new blazer makes you feel more productive and ready to take on a room full of people. Although most people think of clothing as one way to express their distinct personalities, fashion could mean so much more than just affecting our outward appearances. Research has shown that it could actually affect us on a deeper psychological level. This deeper psychological level can be explored through a concept called “Enclothed Cognition”. This examines how the clothes we wear can have an impact on our mental processes, feelings, emotions, and overall behaviour.
What really is Enclothed Cognition?
The term was introduced by researchers Hajo Adam and Adam D Galinsky in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, published in the year 2012. Their theory puts forward the idea that clothing can influence psychological processes through two crucial factors:
- The symbolic meaning associated with the garment
- The physical experience of wearing it
The first factor is about what the clothing actually represents. Let’s take a doctor’s coat, for example. It is usually associated with responsibility, intelligence, and scientific knowledge. A graduation coat could symbolize achievement, and a new tailored suit could represent professionalism. It is important to understand that these representations are largely learnt and influenced by factors such as culture, social expectations, and personal experiences.
The second factor, on the other hand, explains the experience of physically wearing the clothing, as simply looking at clothing might not provide the same experience as actually wearing it. According to the concept of enclothed cognition, actually wearing something makes its symbolic meaning more relevant on a personal level, which then potentially influences the way we think or act.
Consider the difference between looking at a gym outfit through a shop window and then actually putting it on before a workout. While the outfit itself might not manufacture motivation, wearing it might help one mentally transition into the role of someone who is preparing to exercise. All in all, the key idea is that clothing can have an influence on the mind through the meanings that we attach to it. To further investigate this possibility, Adam and Galinsky decided to carry out a series of experiments to ensure that this concept was true.
The Infamous Lab Coat Experiment
In their 2012 experiment, the two explored whether wearing a lab coat could influence attention. The study began by establishing that people associate lab coats with attentiveness and carefulness. They thought that if clothing really did activate the symbolic qualities connected to it, putting on a lab coat might improve performance on tasks that were attention related. Their research involved three different experiments.
Experiment One
In experiment one, a group of participants was assigned to conditions in which they either wore a white lab coat or just their regular everyday clothes. They were then assigned to complete tasks designed to measure selective attention, using a version of the Stroop Test.
For context, the Stroop Test examines how well an individual can focus on relevant information while resisting distracting information. For example, imagine the word “Blue” printed out in RED ink. If asked to identify the colour rather than read out the word, the brain must handle conflicting information. This challenge lies in responding to the relevant feature while simultaneously suppressing the automatic tendency to read the word.
Results from the first experiment found that participants wearing lab coats demonstrated greater selective attention as opposed to the people who did not wear the lab coats, which then offered initial support for the possibility that clothing could influence cognitive performance.
Despite this, the two wanted to understand whether the effect came from the physical garment itself or from what the garment represented.
Experiment Two
In experiment two, participants wore identical lab coats, but researchers described them differently. Some participants were told they were wearing a doctor’s coat, while others were told they were wearing a painter’s coat. This distinction was important, as although the garments looked the exact same, they had different symbolic meanings assigned to them. The doctor’s coat was associated with scientific precision, while the painter's coat was associated with art and creativity.
In the end, results showed that participants wearing the “doctor’s” coat demonstrated greater sustained attention in comparison to those wearing the “painter’s” coat.
Experiment Three
The final experiment examined whether simply seeing or identifying with the doctor’s coat would produce a similar effect. Results showed that the improvement depended on whether the participants were actually wearing the coat, rather than merely looking at it or identifying with its symbolic meaning. Adam and Galinsky came to the conclusion that the white coat was then, in fact, not a simple piece of fabric and actually did carry meaning that appeared to influence how participants approached the tasks they were given.
What does this mean for US?
Enclothed cognition suggests that what we wear may influence how we feel and act in everyday situations. Choosing an outfit that makes us feel confident and competent could actually help us mentally prep for challenges that we may face in the future. It could also act as a psychological cue. For instance, changing into workout clothes may aid in shifting to a mindset that is more exercise-focused, while more comfortable clothing can be a subtle sign that it is time to wind down and relax. Over time, these associations may become part of our daily routines.
However, this does not automatically mean that wearing expensive clothes or a perfectly styled outfit will make us more successful, as the overall effect depends on the meanings that we associate with our clothes (also taking into account our personal experiences). What makes one person feel powerful may make another person feel restricted. Ultimately, this concept encourages people to think beyond how others perceive their appearance, as the clothes we wear may also shape how we perceive ourselves. Choosing what to wear with intention could be a subtle way of supporting the mindset we want to bring into our day. So, with that being said, go wear some good clothes.
