The saying “the clothes maketh the man” holds more than one grain of truth.
Not only has a range of studies shown outward appearance affects first impressions, recent research also indicates what we wear has an impact on our thought processes.
A 2012 study from two researchers at Northwestern University – Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky – discovered people’s performance could be significantly affected by clothing, describing the resulting psychological changes as “enclothed cognition”.
“As a first test of our enclothed cognition perspective, the current research explored the effects of wearing a lab coat,” their paper on the study explains.
Adam and Galinsky said their initial findings showed that a lab coat is generally “associated with attentiveness and carefulness” and predicted that wearing one would increase people’s performance of related tasks.
“In Experiment 1, physically wearing a lab coat increased selective attention compared to not wearing a lab coat,” the study finds.
“In Experiments 2 and 3, wearing a lab coat described as a doctor’s coat increased sustained attention compared to wearing a lab coat described as a painter’s coat, and compared to simply seeing or even identifying with a lab coat described as a doctor’s coat.”
Their research suggests a basic principle of enclothed cognition: both the symbolic meaning and the physical experience of wearing the clothes can have an affect on what you do and how you feel doing it.
The results have potential to reach much farther afield than lab coats and experiments, particularly if retailers catch on to this psychological transformation.
In fact, one branch of the fashion industry appears to already be cashing in on enclothed cognition: fitness wear.
As writer Jamie Wiebe points out a recent article on The Atlantic website, brands like Lululemon are cashing in on the influence branding and clothes has on performance and perception.
“The desire to look good at the gym is nothing new—just look to the neon leggings of Jazzercise yore. But athletic clothing today does more than make your butt look good at the gym: It’s carefully designed to fit into your lifestyle, inside and outside the gym,” she writes.
Wiebe explains that the rise of fitness wear brands has a lot to do with psychology – people may wear the gear to encourage themselves to work out (as suggested by many fitness magazines and blogs), and also to look competent while they’re doing it.
“You think other people will think, if you’re wearing those clothes, you’re a workout woman! You must be really good at it,” psychologist and personal trainer Susan Rudnicki tells Wiebe.
“I see girls at hatha yoga wearing Lululemon clothes, and they look the part, and I think: They must be really good. They have their life together. I’m an instructor, and even I feel that.”
Beyond The Lab and the Gym
While the research and investigations so far have focused on studies done at university and the fitness fashion industry, there is a lot of potential for other retailers to cotton onto the benefits of “enclothed cognition”.
There are many brands that already market a particular look or lifestyle. Abercrombie and Fitch, for example, has become notorious as an exclusive brand for “cool, attractive” people, which could make customers wearing the company’s clothes feel cooler and more attractive.
Though contrasting in style, the edgy, sexy images associated with Calvin Klein have been known to make both celebrities and everyday people feel both modern and sexy.
But so far very few companies appear to be aware of just how much power their unique branding could hold.
Now that it’s been scientifically confirmed that clothes can influence actions, marketing departments could easily work this knowledge into their campaigns and advertorials in a bid to get people to buy more.
Think ads where people “test drive” outfits to see how they affect daily life, or articles about how a particular brand or item has improved some kind of measurable performance or interaction.
Fashion companies could suddenly start making all kinds of claims, from improving focus and productivity at work to getting people in the “party mood” with their latest designs.
The options are limitless, and the potential influence it could have on consumers is huge. It is already clear that distinct brands and niches in the fashion industry, such as the fitness market, have a lot of influence over how people feel, but it could go a lot further on the future.
Whether this will happen remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the research from Adam and Galinsky gives everyday people a chance to dress and impress by putting enclothed cognition to work.
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