Which, when, and how elements of a fashion are adopted by a particular person or group are indicators of how that person or group is viewed by others within their society. For men who have worked in business and commerce, the clothing has changed little since the rise of the commercial middle class. The business suit remains unaltered because its…

Male (n=69) and female (n=68) adolescents spent similar amounts on clothing with similar conformity, sexual attractiveness, and recognition motivations. Females shopped significantly more often and were more influenced by friends and magazines. There were significant differences between impulse buyers and others in shopping frequency, expenditure,…

Examined relationship between self-esteem and selected clothing attitudes among Black adults (N=80). Results revealed that both men and women showed positive correlations between self-esteem and clothing attitude statements on aesthetics and practicality. For males, there was negative correlation between self-esteem and attitudes on attracting…

Tallied graduating college students (N=1,843) who displayed personal adornment in addition to their traditional academic garb. Found that degree conferred, sex of recipient, and year of graduation were related to the frequency and forms (political and nonpolitical) of adornment. Indicated that personalization of graduation attire followed patterns…

Examined same-sex awareness by comparing the visual attention of 51 college students toward stimulus persons. Results showed men looked longer at slides of women both clothed and in bathing suits than slides of men, and women looked longest at slides of clothed women. Results suggested intrasex competitiveness and intersex attraction. (JAC)

Although there are many variables that influence conformity, Bickman (1974) found that the apparel of the person making a request had a significant influence on conformity. To evaluate other factorswhicn may influence conformity (gender, age, status of the conforming subject, and altruism in conforming), 150 adult pedestrians (45% female, 71%…

In this study a male experimenter's style of dress had significant influence upon the number of agreements from older and younger women to answer the interviewer's questions and no influence upon men. Older individuals were more influenced by clothing than were younger ones. Results are discussed. (Author)

Male and female subjects rated a standardized, professionally drawn female in 12 outfits as to impressions they would make in job interviews. The 12 jobs represented combinations of high- and low-status and male-dominated and female-dominated occupations. Discusses outfits and suggests women made better impressions when applying for…

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…

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…

Describes (1) the development and reliability and validity evaluation of the Person Preference Test; and (2) the utilization of the instrument to determine whether clothing style, hair style, global appearance, and part-whole perception influence children's preference for persons represented by stimulus figures. (SDH)

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…

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…

Studied evaluative dimensions of how recruiters and future employees (students) view the importance of appearance. Examined differences of focus (students versus recruiters), sex, and occupational area. Respondents recognized appearance as an influence on an individual's effectiveness. Generally, extreme styles were deemed unacceptabe. (Author/RC)

Explored possible gender differences in clothes-shopping behavior among adolescents. Findings from 387 college students revealed that: parents financially assisted sons and daughters equally; there was no gender difference in shopping frequency; mothers more frequently shopped with sons than with daughters; fathers rarely shopped with any…