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. 2018;158(5):553-557.
doi: 10.1080/00224545.2017.1393383. Epub 2017 Nov 8.

Dressing "in code": Clothing rules, propriety, and perceptions

Regan A R Gurung  1 , Michaella Brickner  1 , Mary Leet  1 , Elizabeth Punke  1
Affiliations

Dressing "in code": Clothing rules, propriety, and perceptions

Regan A R Gurung et al. J Soc Psychol. 2018.

Erratum in

  • Correction.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] J Soc Psychol. 2020;160(2):264-266. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1599547. Epub 2019 May 14. J Soc Psychol. 2020. PMID: 32037987 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Does dressing in line with societal clothing rules make a woman appear more professional and competent? We used a within-subjects design and tested if participants rated women dressed in compliance with school and workplace clothing rules more positively than women not dressed in compliance with rules. Participants (N = 89) at a mid-sized mid-western university rated 10 pictures of women captured from the internet on 11 attributes. Participants rated the five women dressed following clothing rules higher on a composite measure of positive attributes (intelligent, competent, powerful, organized, efficient, and professional), F(1, 86) = 68.92, p < .001 ηp2 = .45. Participant's ratings did not correlate with their own self-reported levels of sexism. Participants' gender was not a significant correlate. Our findings indicate that how students perceive women significantly relates to dressing in code. Participants rated women in less revealing and less tight clothing more positively.

Keywords: Clothing rules; dressing in code; sexism.

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