Success: Formal Clothing and Delay Discounting a Thesis Submitted

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Dress for (Long-Term) Success: Formal Clothing and Delay Discounting A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology, General-Experimental By Monica Olivia Reyes May 2017 Copyright by Monica Olivia Reyes 2017 ii The thesis of Monica Olivia Reyes is approved: _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Andrew T. Ainsworth Date _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Sara R. Berzenski Date _________________________________________ ______________ Dr. Abraham M. Rutchick, Chair Date California State University, Northridge iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to: Dr. Abraham M. Rutchick, The GOAT. Thank you for believing in me always, and for sharing with me your priceless knowledge. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT……………………………………………...……………………………...ii SIGNATURE PAGE……………………………………………….………………...…..iii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iv ABSTRACT……………………………………...……………………………...……….vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER 2: STUDY 1…………………………………………………………………..7 2.1 METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………7 2.2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION………………………………………………9 CHAPTER 3: STUDY 2…………………………………………………………………11 3.1 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………..11 3.2 MANIPULATION CHECK……………………………………………........13 3.2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION……………………………………………..13 CHAPTER 4: GENERAL DISCUSSION……………………………………………….15 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..17 APPENDIX A: TEMPORAL DISCOUNTING MEASURE……………………………21 APPENDIX B: REMOTE ASSOCIATES TEST………………………………………..22 APPENDIX C: ACTION IDENTIFICATION TASK…………………………………..23 v ABSTRACT Dress for (Long-Term) Success: Formal Clothing and Delay Discounting By Monica Reyes Master of Arts in Psychology, General-Experimental Recent research has shown that cognitive abilities are associated with bodily states, and that wearing formal clothing, relative to casual clothing, causes people to think more abstractly. In Study 1, we examined whether wearing formal clothing, which is associated with power, would enhance cognitive processes that result from abstract processing. Conversely, perceiving powerful others can make people feel less powerful. Study 2 tests this converse process by exposing participants to people wearing formal clothing and examines cognitive processing styles and decision making. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION When a person picks out clothing for the day, they must consider a few things. Where do they plan to go? Who do they plan to see? What do they plan to accomplish? In most cases, we choose our clothing out of necessity because it can be advantageous to us in a variety of settings. Social science has shown us that nonverbal factors, such as communicator’s attractiveness, play a role in our ability to persuade others over and above our trustworthiness or quality of knowledge (Burgoon, Dunbar, & Segrin, 2002). This implies that interpersonal effectiveness can be strongly impacted by physical characteristics (one of which is the clothing worn by the communicator). Wearing clothing that is formal can be an effective strategy for obtaining our objectives, in that it allows us to portray status and professionalism, which is necessary in certain situations. For example, when wearing a suit, we may be taken more seriously in a job interview, or treated with more respect while dining at a restaurant. This could be because the clothing itself differentiates us from others and thus gives us a sense of identity and pride (Griskevicius, Shiota, & Nowlis, 2010). According to Belk (1978), several studies have shown that those who wear more formal attire, rather than a casual ensemble, are likely to receive more compliance with their requests (e.g., taking a quick survey). It is also more likely that a person wearing formal clothing will have their behaviors mimicked by those around them (e.g., crossing a street against a traffic light; Belk, 1978). Indeed, formal clothing has been shown to signal status (Lasswell & Parshall, 1961) which makes it likely for a person to be respected and get what they want. Beyond the way people perceive those wearing formal clothing, the clothing itself has an effect on the way people perceive themselves. Research conducted by Peluchette 1 and Karl (2007) showed that those who wore formal attire report feeling more authoritative, competent, and trustworthy than those wearing casual attire. In understanding this, then, the experience of wearing certain types of clothing can influence one’s behavior according to what the clothing represents. Accordingly, formal clothing, with its established representation of power and status, can not only change a person’s appearance, but may also affect their cognitions. In fact, past studies have focused on whether people’s behaviors are impacted by the psychological meaning behind physical experiences, bodily states, and actions. There are many recent demonstrations of these types of effects: the physical experience of holding hard or soft objects non-consciously influences impressions and decisions formed about ambiguous people and situations (Ackerman, Nocera, & Bargh, 2010), moving in clockwise motions induced psychological states of temporal progression (Topolinski & Sparenberg, 2012), and the act of flexing one’s arm, relative to extending it, led to increased perceptions of trust (Slepian et al., 2012). Thus, bodily states, objects, and actions that have psychological meaning can influence cognition and behavior. With respect to clothing specifically, a recent demonstration (Adam & Galinsky, 2012) suggests that the symbolic meaning behind wearing specific clothing is just as important as the physical experience of wearing it. In their study, Adam and Galinsky (2012) first tested whether participants wearing a lab coat had increased selective attention (Experiment 1) over those who did not wear a lab coat. Selective attention was chosen as the dependent variable because lab coats are typically worn by doctors and scientists, whom of which are typically known to be very careful and attentive. They then compared whether there was a difference in attentiveness between participants wearing 2 the lab coat described as either a doctor’s coat or a painter’s coat (Experiments 2 & 3). While wearing a lab coat did in fact increase selective attention over not wearing one at all, the symbolic meaning associated with wearing it as a doctor’s coat further enhanced attentiveness. According to these results, then, wearing specific types of clothing can become associated with various cognitions and behaviors in accordance with the meaning that the clothing conveys (Slepian et al., 2015). Those who wear formal clothing are typically in a position of power or authority. Therefore, the physical experience of wearing formal clothing should increase one’s feelings of power. Power has been shown to influence behaviors such as risk-taking and extroversion (Galinsky, Gruenfeld, & Magee, 2003). Most pertinent to the current work is that people with power process information abstractly, while those who feel less powerful process information concretely (Smith & Trope, 2006). A recent study conducted by Slepian and colleagues (2015) examined whether wearing formal clothing versus casual clothing enhanced abstract cognitive processing. Abstract processes were measured through a series of experiments using category inclusiveness, action identification, and global processing methods. Participants wearing formal clothing were more likely to identify actions at a higher level than those wearing casual clothing. For example, when given an action like locking the door, those wearing formal clothing identified the intention behind the action (“protecting the house”) rather than just identifying the action itself (“turning a key”). Identifying the intention behind the action suggests a higher level of abstract processing. Wearing formal clothing was also associated with enhanced category inclusiveness. Participants wearing formal clothing were more likely to consider weak exemplars as good fits to categories, while those wearing casual clothing processed 3 the categories in a more concrete manner. By and large, results showed that wearing formal clothing was associated with enhanced abstract processing throughout all measures (Slepian et al., 2015). According to Kraus and Mendes (2014), symbols of social class, such as clothing, communicate hierarchal positions in human interactions. Additionally, those who perceive people wearing clothing that represents a high level of status and class, such as formal clothing, feel reduced sense of power. Within their study, Kraus and Mendes examined the influence of manipulated clothing types including behavior and physiology of participants during a negotiation task. Specifically, in dyadic interactions, one participant wore clothing which represented low class, consisting of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and sandals, while the other participant wore clothing which represented upper class, consisting of a black suit, white button-down collared shirt, and leather shoes. Results showed that perceivers of upper class targets displayed a lower sense of power during the negotiation task then perceiver of lower class targets. This was evaluated using a 7-point Likert scale which measured sense of power before and after the negotiation task. Additionally, it was revealed that participants wearing the upper-class symbols of clothing obtained significantly higher profits in the negotiation task than did perceivers.

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