"G. Marc Turner" wrote:
>
> Class exercise for someone: How would different schools of thought in
> psychology (behaviorism, evolutionary, Freudian, etc.) explain tie wearing?
Oh gosh. The possibilities for hypotheses are endless. One practical
explanation has to do with buttons (er .. buTONS). Way back when they were big
and clunky - right? The tie was a strip that covered the buttons. Over the
years they became more ornamental. The bow-tie is another story.
Then there is the scarf hypothesis. Prior to the days of L.L. Bean
turtle-necks shirt holes for the head were loose and a scarf closes the hole
and protects from the cold. Scarfs usually end up hanging down to the waist.
On my wall I have a very old photograph of an unnamed relative wearing a
Ukranian shirt with a one-inch wide strip of embroidered flowers round the
collar and from the Adam's apple down the front - ending a few inches above the
belt. Purely ornamental - but consistent with the other theories if we assume
the ornamental derives from the functional.
I'm wondering if there is not an evolutionary explanation that has to do
with body symmetry. Symetrical faces are more attractive (though we can
quibble), and a tie down the front enhances the overall sense of symmetry.
--
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John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig
Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468
Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412
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"What a man often sees he does not wonder at, although he knows
not why it happens; if something occurs which he has not seen before,
he thinks it is a marvel" - Cicero.
