Don't miss Cecelia Watson's terrific article: "The Sartorial Self: William James's Philosophy of Dress" (/History of Psychology,/ 2004): http://home.uchicago.edu/~cecelia/Curriculum_Vitae_files/Sartorial%20Self.pdf
Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== Jim Clark wrote: > Hi > > I'm often curious whether topics that come up here in a casual manner > have a psychological literature associated with them, attire being one > recent example. Indeed, "clothing" appears in the PsycInfo thesaurus > and there are over 1,000 entries on the topic. When I ask about > "clothing" and "culture," over 100 entries came up, including a > dissertation on dress by Latina women. Here's the abstract: > > "This dissertation is an exploration of how Hispanic women of different > levels of acculturation communicate their individual, social and > cultural identities through clothing and appearance. The purpose of this > study is to help understand the way in which clothes, as objects, embody > deeper cultural values, and how the meanings assigned to them are > socially constructed and diffused in a bicultural context. This > dissertation employs a cross-disciplinary theoretical perspective, > bringing together concepts from social-psychology, symbolic > interactionism, symbolic consumption, diffusion of innovation, and > acculturation theories. Following the exploratory nature of this study, > in-depth interviews and observations were employed to systematically > examine the experiences of ten Hispanic women living in the United > States. The study demonstrates that, when it comes to clothing and > appearance, Hispanic women have more commonalities than differences. > Hispanic women*regardless of the level of acculturation*retain over > time a set of values and beliefs characteristic of the Hispanic culture. > These values and beliefs are learned early on from their mothers and > maintained through constant interaction with the Hispanic culture > through friends and family. Hispanic cultural values drive the way > Hispanic women communicate gender, attractiveness, age, ethnicity, and > social class. Another important part of this work explains the > competency that Hispanic women have in communicating the different roles > of their identities through clothing and appearance. This competency > allows them to balance the need to make a positive impression on others > with the need for self-expression. Finally, this study illustrates the > interconnection between the different aspects of the adoption of clothes > by pointing out sensorial experience, fit, and interpersonal influence > as the major drivers of adoption among Hispanic women. (PsycINFO > Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)" > > Provocative dress also gets some attention, as in: > > "This study provides empirical evidence for the objectification of > women and unearths factors that increase objectification. > Objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997) suggests that > women from Western cultures are the targets of male gaze. Although this > seems self-evident from a look at the media, little empirical evidence > exists to document the phenomenon or unravel underlying processes. > Undergraduate female participants (N=82) from the Midwestern part of the > United States rated three photographs of well-known female Olympic > athletes shown either provocatively dressed or in sport-appropriate > outfits. Results showed that when shown provocatively attired the women > were objectified. Furthermore, participants' own levels of social > physique anxiety were significant predictors of objectification. Sexism > and trait objectification were not significantly related to ratings. > (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)" > > That provocative styles (e.g., short skirts) might have some systematic > determinants was examined in this study: > > "Despite many speculations, there is no well-supported explanation for > cycles of fashion in women's dress and scholars cannot agree whether > fashions reflect societal changes. Generalizing from cycles of bodily > attractiveness for women, it was hypothesized that dress styles are > reflective of reproductive economics. Using data from 3 studies of dress > fashion extending from 1885 to 1976 (J. Richardson and A. L. Kroeber, > 1940; P. Weeden, 1977; M. A. Mabry, 1971), the prediction was tested > that short skirts (signaling sexual accessibility) would be correlated > with low sex ratios (indicating limited marital opportunity for women), > with increased economic opportunities for women and with marital > instability. Predictions for narrow waists and low necklines (which > signal reproductive value) were opposite. These predictions received > strong support indicating that dress styles, like standards of bodily > attractiveness, may be partly determined by marital economics. (PsycINFO > Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)" > > Another interesting article addressed relation between religiousness > and willingness to wear revealing clothing. And there were a number of > articles in clothing choices of Muslim women. As well dress in > advertising (sex appeal) got some attention, including some interesting > cross-cultural comparisons. > > Seems like an interesting area. > > Take care > Jim > > > James M. Clark > Professor of Psychology > 204-786-9757 > 204-774-4134 Fax > [email protected] > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0da&n=T&l=tips&o=5090 > or send a blank email to > leave-5090-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5100 or send a blank email to leave-5100-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
