What should I wear to work? An integrative review of the impact of clothing in the workplace.

Abstract

Perceptions of clothing are complex, varying across individuals, situations, cultures, and time. Although there is very little research on the topic in our field, evidence from a wide variety of other disciplines points to the importance of clothing in the workplace. In this article, we review this evidence and identify three universal and distinctive clothing characteristics at work: formality, provocativeness, and fashionability. We also identify two other categories: uniforms and religiosity of clothing, which are tied to particular social groups. Drawing on attribution theory and the stereotype content model, we provide a cohesive conceptual framework in which clothing characteristics influence observers' perceptions of wearer's warmth and competence through observers' dispositional attribution processes. These perceptions, in turn, influence facilitation behaviors, such as providing support to wearers, and harm behaviors, such as negatively biased performance appraisal. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research and implications for employees and employers with regard to managing clothing choices and avoiding potential biases.

What do physicians think about the white coat, about patients' view of the white coat, and how empathetic are physicians toward patients in hospital gowns? An enclothed cognition view

“…Chang and Cortina ( 2024 ) extended the theory and introduced the concepts of enclothed harmony and enclothed dissonance. Harmony captures symbolic consistency with the context, whereas dissonance captures inconsistency with the context.…”

“…Limited studies that examined how uniforms shaped employees' social identities did not include the impact of their identity on behaviors. Moreover, most of the studies employing the theory of enclothed cognition focused on what the clothing communicated to others (Bonaccio et al, 2016 ; Kim et al, 2023 ; Chang and Cortina, 2024 ). People generally associate the physician's coat with scientific focus and attentiveness (Adam and Galinsky, 2012 ), but how does it impact the physicians' thoughts and attitudes?…”

“…Work uniforms are distinctive to certain professions (Chang and Cortina, 2024 ). They suppress individual personality and enhance the sense of belonging to a professional group.…”

“…Therefore, to promote conformity within their ranks and project a desired image to the outside world, institutions devote considerable resources to establishing, enforcing, and even litigating formal dress codes (Ford, 2022 ). The physician's whitecoat has been studied more than any other uniform (Chang and Cortina, 2024 ) and its conferral on medical students is a meaningful milestone. The research highlighted the whitecoat's symbolic function: its connotations of purity, its representation of authority and professionalism, its role in consolidating a medical hierarchy, and the professional status patients attribute to the wearer (Loh et al, 2000 ; Treakle et al, 2009 ; Wellbery and Chan, 2013 ; Gouraud et al, 2014 ; Palacios-González and Lawrence, 2015 ).…”

How does bias enter the employment interview? Identifying the riskiest applicant characteristics, interviewer characteristics, and sources of potentially biasing information

“…This may be because information gleaned via direct experience with applicants is likely to be more media rich than alternative sources of information (Lengel & Daft, 1984). In the interview, interviewers can not only listen to what the applicant says, but also notice how they say it (e.g., with an accent; Spence et al, 2024), how they look (e.g., physical attractiveness, dress/attire; Barrick et al, 2009;Chang & Cortina, 2023), and even how they smell (Baron, 1986). Interviews involve personal interactions between interviewers and applicants, with opportunities for two-way communication and immediate feedback.…”