It's long been said that clothes make the man, and often when people are hoping to land a great job or a promotion, they are told to dress for the job they want, not the job they have. For a long time, I have thought that these pieces of advice were just gems of conventional wisdom that didn't really hold up to scrutiny. Just because I wear an expensive business suit doesn't mean that I'm a stockbroker.
Don't get me wrong, I've long believed that dressing the part is helpful, but it doesn't change who you are. For example, on a job interview, it's certainly helpful to know the dress code of the company and select your clothing accordingly. The reason it helps is that the interviewer will be able to imagine you as an employee more easily. By showing that you can fit in with the corporate culture and wearing a similar "uniform" creates a visual bond of similarity.
New research is showing that what we wear actually does have an impact on who we are and how well we perform. The study took a look at a phenomenon called clothing cognition, which is the effects of clothing on your thought process. For example, if you were to put on a white lab coat, would you be smarter? Be able to focus better? If so, is it because you think you look like a doctor, or is there something special about that jacket?
It's long been thought that if you dress more professionally, you'll behave more professionally. It's certainly true, but only to an extent. It only works when you believe that the outfit is part of the costume of someone different from yourself. Basically, it works like this - if I am interviewing for a position at a bank, I would select an outfit that looks like what I think a banker would wear. Then, during the interview, without even realizing it, I will be more likely to behave in the ways I associate with the banking profession. I would probably sit up straighter and behave more formally.
But, does this cognitive change go deeper than this?
In the study, 58 participants were randomly assigned to either wear a white lab coat or to dress in their usual clothes. Then, they were given attention test to rate their ability to notice small details and inconsistencies. In that experiment, the people in lab coats made 50% fewer mistakes than the people who were wearing street clothes.
To further test this theory, another experiment was needed. This time, half of the group wore white lab coats and the other half were given white painter's coats. The jackets were identical, the only difference was what they were called. When the same type of test was administered, the people wearing the lab coats performed significantly higher than the one in the painter's coat. In fact, that group actually scored lower on the test than the group that had been wearing their street clothes.
It's an interesting study, and it certainly makes me wonder how this information can be used in the workplace. If dressing like a boss can help you perform better during an interview, will it also help you do your job more effectively? The research to answer that question isn't there yet.
It seems that the cognitive change the researchers found happens only when people are wearing clothing that they view as being different than their own identity. It is sort of like going to a Halloween party, if you dress up as a witch, odds are good that you will try to act spooky. What I think would be interesting to find out is what happens when you test a group of doctors, some wearing lab coats and other just wearing their own clothes. Do the doctors who wear the "costume" perform better than the more casual doctors?
I'm not sure, but one thing is clear - more studies are needed.
Do you think that your choice of clothing matters? Why or why not?
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