Dress for Success.” Most of us have heard the saying. However, it isn’t just the type of clothing you wear that matters — it also matters how you wear it. In this study, participants rated portraits of neatly and messily dressed individuals. Individuals wore the same clothing in both the neat and messy portraits, and and gestures and smiling were standardized in all portraits. We found that neat portraits were rated as significantly more organized and intelligent and less extroverted. This may mean that job interviewers and teachers might favor applicants and students with neater dress. So next time you want to impress someone, keep in mind the neatness of your dress.
Authors: Elisabeth Niederman, Jennifer Price, Ben D. Sawyer, and P. A. Hancock
Presented at The Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference