"As the last rays of late autumn sunlight hit our windows in the morning, the temperature tells a different story. Winter is approaching-graceful, inevitable, and gently nudging us toward thicker fabrics and more layers. We reach for warmth first. But we also reach for something else: Clothing is one of the few everyday choices that must balance practicality, self-expression, and the quiet hopes we harbor for how we want to show up in the world."
"Their core finding was striking: The very clothes you wear can influence how you think, feel, and behave -but only when two forces come together: The symbolic meaning of the clothing The physical act of wearing it When participants wore a lab coat described as a "doctor's coat," their attention sharpened, compared to simply seeing the coat or compared to wearing a coat described as a "painter's coat." Both meaning and wearing mattered."
As the weather cools, clothing choices balance warmth, practicality, self-expression, and aspirations about how to present oneself. Enclothed cognition describes how garments influence thinking, feeling, and behavior when their symbolic meaning combines with the physical act of wearing them. Experiments show that wearing a lab coat labeled as a doctor's coat sharpens attention more than seeing the coat or wearing a painter's coat. Evidence groups into mechanisms including symbolic activation of identity, where formal or occupation-relevant attire increases abstract thinking, focus, and decision-making. Clothing also shapes others' rapid perceptions and social impressions.
Read at Psychology Today
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