The psychology of workwear: enclothed cognition and dress codes.
Enclothed cognition is a psychological term that explains how the clothes you wear change how you think, feel, and act.
The researchers, Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky, propose that clothes affect our thoughts, and go on to say that the effects of enclothed cognition will depend on two factors: the symbolic meaning of the clothes and the actual wearing of the clothes.
They tested the idea using white coats, which are mostly associated with scientists. A group of 58 students was given a Stroop test (say the colour of the ink, not the colour stated by the word - for instance green written in red ink, so you'd say red) and half of them wore a lab coat, half wore their own clothes.
The students in the lab coats made half as many errors in the test as those that were wearing their own clothes. Scientists are known for their attention to detail, so it's possible 'becoming' a scientist in the lab coat is what made the lab coat wearers perform better.
The next test was a 'spot the difference' test. In this test, some students wore the lab coat, some merely had it on the desk near to them, and some were told the coat belonged to a painter, not a scientist. Those wearing the lab coat again outscored the other two groups.
So does the actual clothing have an impact? It seems like it does, but when it comes to workwear, the science doesn't always stick. Leaders often use enclothed cognition to justify dress codes, but not all employees respond well to being asked to 'dress up' for work.
I mentioned in a previous post that the pandemic proved we can be just as productive working in sweatpants as we can in a suit. That's always rung true for some people, who don't like being restricted by 'office-appropriate' clothing and do their best thinking in what would be considered sloppy dress.
Dressing up for work is a stressor that a lot of people do not need in their already busy lives. They know what outfits they feel comfortable and most productive in, and that's not always compliant with their company dress code. Plus 'dressing up' for work can sometimes lead to people performing and putting on a persona, which they then have to maintain and if they slip, it definitely gets noticed.
In short, yes, enclothed cognition is a thing and it is a proven concept with repeatable results. But every human is different, enclothed cognition is not one size fits all, and leaders need to take this into account when writing their dress codes.
If your dress code could do with an update, click here to book a discovery call for my dress code reviews.
(Source for info on enclothed cognition: https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/introducing-enclothed-cognition-how-what-we-wear-affects-how-we-think)
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