An instrument developed to examine a person's perception of fashion risk in clothing choice, relative to his or her self-esteem, was administered to 400 university students. Fashion risk was found to be a part of other types of risk and not linearly related to self-esteem. (Author/SK)

Extent to which students with physical handicaps have clothing attitudes that differ from nonhandicapped students and the relationship between self-concept and clothing attitudes were investigated. There were clothing attitude differences between handicapped and nonhandicapped students for all variables except appearance. No significant…

A study involving 500 undergraduates in a clothing and textile course identified five factors seen as central components of clothing interest: concern with personal appearance, experimenting with appearance, heightened awareness of clothes, clothing as enhancement of security, and clothing as enhancement of individuality. (JH)

A group of 76 male and female toddlers identified drawings depicting boys and girls alone or with sex-typical or sex-atypical toys by responding "girl" or "boy,""girls' toy" or "boys' toy." The youngest girls outperformed the youngest boys in identifying toys. Otherwise, responses in general improved with…

Influences on clothing choice were identified by 184 6th-graders, 159 9th-graders, and 135 12th-graders. Friend influence increased with age. Blacks were most influenced by media, whites and rural youth by friends. Media were less influential with females, gained influence as adolescents aged, and had almost twice as much influence on urban as on…

Apparel industry representatives (n=12) and apparel program faculty (n=17) used Q methodology to identify industry skill needs. Most industry representatives thought strong affective skills were most important for design professionals. Nearly half the educators thought that cognitive attributes were most important. (Contains 18 references.) (SK)

Examined the influence of victim dress, perceiver gender, situational relevance, and personal relevance on attributions of responsibility for date rape by 632 college students. Attributions of responsibility were significantly influenced by perceiver gender and victim dress. Discusses implications for attribution theory and practical implications,…

Preschoolers' reasons for ranking the beauty of 30 children's book illustrations were investigated through individual interviews. Most frequent response criteria for beauty were associated with familiar objects or surroundings, action, color, clothing or accessories, water or ice, body features, and babies or small things. Children's book…

This study was undertaken to examine the impact of different color women's business suits on hiring decisions and perceptions of job applicants for two different types of jobs, one requiring warmth (elementary school teacher) and one requiring power (police officer). It was hypothesized that fictitious job applicants wearing dark, cold colors…

The effect of counselor attire on outcomes of an initial counseling session was studied in a counseling analogue. Clients were 54 female undergraduates enrolled in undergraudate psychology courses at a large Mideastern university. Each client volunteered to discuss a concern of a personal-social nature with a doctoral student in counseling…

Three distinct theoretical explanations for the effect of attire on aiding behavior were examined in a study. The reinforcing value of attire itself predicted that well-dressed persons would always receive more assistance than poorly dressed persons. The reinforcing value of perceived similarity predicted that similar persons would receive more…

In this report, all readily available federal consumption data (as of July 1975) are analyzed for differences in the costs of consuming food, clothing, housing and other expenditures using several residential definitions. There were two specific objectives to this study: (1) to analyze the data on the cost of these items for differences among…

The influence of physical attractiveness, dress, and job type upon 300 college recruiters' impressions of females' employment potential was investigated. Subjects rated female applicants from a photograph on eight employment potential statements. Results indicate that the applicant's style of dress exerted a consistent influence on recruiters'…

A survey of 303 Missouri home economics teachers attempted to identify factors that positively affect teachers' self-perceived competence to teach clothing construction to mainstreamed, physically handicapped students. Primary factors were (1) personal clothing construction experience, (2) college course that dealt with disabilities, and (3) years…

Investigated the impact of therapist attire and seating arrangement on observers' perceptions of a therapist's attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness. Undergraduates (N=233) listened to an audiotaped interview while viewing a slide presentation. The casual attire/no desk setting elicited the highest attraction ratings, mediated by the…