Table Of ContentAttire Bias: The Effects of Clothing on Perceptions of Group Members
An Honors Thesis (PSYS 499)
by
Haley Armstrong
Thesis Advisor
Dr. Mary Kite
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana
April 2013
Expected Date of Graduation
May 2013
Abstract
This study sought to find the spectrum of biases and judgments that are made through the
perception of dress. Participants from a Midwestern university rated a group and its leader on
levels of energy, knowledge, friendliness and socio-economic status. The leader's dress style
varied by condition as either professional or causal. Results did not indicate that judgments
varied as a function of attire; however, exploratory analyses did find a relationship between age
and judgment of the target's energy level, knowledge level and leadership ability. Younger
participants viewed the leader more positively regardless of her style ofdress. Limitations are
discussed and suggestions for modification of the current study for future research are provided.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Mary Kite for advising me through this project. Her guidance and
knowledge cannot be repaid. Her assistance with this year-long thesis only represents a very
small fraction of the tremendous support she gave to me during my four years as a student at Ball
State University.
I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Holtgraves for his guidance through this project. I appreciate
the hours of reading put towards this project.
I would like to thank my classmates Carin Smith, Kaitlin Pickett, and Alex Kuka for their
suggestions and critiques regarding this thesis as well. Teamwork never fails- thank you for
being my teammate.
IRBNet Board Action https:llbl2prd051 O.outlook.com/owal?ae=ltem&t=IPM.N ote&id= ...
IRBNet Board Action
Chris Mangelli [[email protected]]
Sent:Friday, November 30, 2012 6:45 PM
To: Armstrong, Haley; Kite, Mary
Please note that Ball State University IRB has taken the following action on
IRBNet :
Project Title: [395465-1 ) Evaluations of Interactions Among Group Members
Principal Investigator: Haley Armstrong
Submission Type: New Project
Date Submitted: November 28, 2012
Action: APPROVED
Effective Date: November 30, 2012
Review Type: Exempt Review
Should you have any questions you may contact Chris Mangelli at
cmmangelli@bsu .edu.
Thank you,
The IRBNet Support Team
WWV-!. irbnet. org
I of I 41l 8/2013 8:34 AM
IRBNet Board Document Published https://b12prdOSI O.outlook.com/owal?ae=Item&t=IPM.Note&id= ...
IRBNet Board Document Published
Chris Mangelli [[email protected]]
Sent:Friday, November 30, 2012 6:45 PM
To: Kite, Mary; Armstrong, Haley
Please note that Ball State University IRB has published the fol l owing Board
Document on IRBNet:
Project Title : [395465-1] Evaluations of Interactions Among Group Members
Principal Investigator : Haley Armstrong
Submission Type: New Proj e ct
Date Submitted: November 28, 2012
Document Type: Exempt Letter
Document Description: Exempt Letter
Publ ish Date: November 30 , 2012
Should you have any questions you may contact Chris Mangelli at
cmmangell i @bsu . edu.
Thank you ,
The IRBNet Support Team
www.irbne .org
I of 1 4118/20138:34 AM
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Running head: EVALUATIONS OF INTERACTIONS AMONG GROUP MEMBERS
Attire Bias: The Effects of Clothing on Perceptions of Group Members
Haley M. Armstrong
Ball State University
EVALUATIONS OF INTERACTIONS AMONG GROUP MEMBERS 2
Abstract
This study sought to find the spectrum of biases and judgments that are made through the perception
of dress. Participants from a Midwestern university rated a group and its leader on levels of energy,
knowledge, friendliness and socio-economic status. The leader's dress style varied by condition as
either professional or causal. Results did not indicate that judgments varied as a function of attire;
however, exploratory analyses did find a relationship between age and judgment of the target's
energy level, knowledge level and leadership ability. Younger participants viewed the leader more
positively regardless of her style of dress. Limitations are discussed and suggestions for modification
of the current study for future research are provided.
EVALUATIONS OF INTERACTIONS AMONG GROUP MEMBERS 3
Attire Bias: The Effects of Clothing on Perceptions of Group Members
The consequences of appearance in Western culture are circumstanced by simple
judgment from the general public. Judgments of others' physical appearance are based on
mUltiple stereotypes and schemas associated with social presentation. Perceptions based on
physical appearance occur simply, almost instinctually, yet at the same time are based on socially
constructed ideas about what is appropriate for people from different backgrounds and in
different social settings. People understand that outer appearance influences views of their own
character, and therefore adapt their outer appearance to communicate messages about their
personality. Clothing is one seemingly controllable alteration people can make to their
appearance. Although clothing choice might simply be a result of clean laundry, it ultimately
serves as an available tool to categorize persons into personality types and attitudes.
The Categorization Process
In order to understand how others are judged, it is important to grasp how those
judgments begin to form. The perceiver's first step is to mentally place people into groups
through categorization. Categorization is a process during which people are identified through
physical characteristics as a member of some socially constructed group of people, sharing a
commonality in identified traits (Fiske, Neuberg, Beattie & Milberg, 1987). Categories form so
that people can more easily and swiftly make sense of the world around them. The most basic
physical attributes that become social constructs are age, gender, and race (Macrae &
Bodenhausen, 2000). The process of putting people into such basic categories happens very
quickly and unconsciously. In the amount of time it takes to recognize a vague object, the
specificity of its features is already nearly completely determined. For example, Jacques and
Rossion (2006) posit that the time it takes to recognize an individual face amongst other faces
Description:This study sought to find the spectrum of biases and judgments that are made Contact Information Department: Psychological Science Assessing Risk in Social and Behavioral Sciences - SBR 2/4:'20 13 9:26 AM . devaluation prescribed through group privilege, and identified by deviance from
