AFHS—being public—has no mandatory uniforms that have to be worn, giving students the opportunity to explore new trends and styles. While some people may only see the surface level of clothes, they can have a major impact on people's emotions.
The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology uses the phrase “enclothed cognition” to describe the influence clothes have on people’s minds and how wearing different clothes alters their mood, confidence level, and ability to perform specific tasks. Authors Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinksy, conducted a study proving that wearing specific clothes impacts a person's productivity. They had two groups of people facilitating the same science experiment, except one group wore a lab coat while the other wore a rain jacket. The study revealed that, “wearing a lab coat described as a doctor's coat increased sustained attention compared to wearing a lab coat described as a painter's coat, and compared to simply seeing or even identifying with a lab coat described as a doctor's coat.” The overall takeaway from the experiment showed that clothes can change mood depending on the “symbolic meaning’” of the clothing.
While wearing a professional lab coat may be beneficial, studies show that wearing jeans may not have the same effect. Good Therapy refers to a social experiment that Karen Pine, a professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, helped conduct. Pine interviewed 100 women ranging in ages 21 to 64, asking about their shopping habits and the clothes that make them feel good about themselves. The study showed that 96% of women believed that their mood and feelings can be reflected in the way they dress. According to Good Therapy, “the strong link between clothing and mood states suggests we should put on clothes that we associate with happiness, even when feeling low.” Pine claims that when people normally experience depression, how they dress typically reflects their mood. They would normally turn to baggy sweatpants or laid-back jeans, while people who felt happy wore their favorite dress pants or dress. She says, “of course there will always be individual differences, but nonetheless recent research into enclothed cognition…confirms there is a strong association between what we wear and our physiological processes.”
Overall, the small accessories or details in clothing may not seem like a big deal. If you feel unhappy, try wearing a fun outfit that highlights your features, or maybe instead of wearing beat-up sneakers, consider heels or your fanciest shoes. Little changes can make such an improvement regarding your mood, so putting that extra pep in your step can make all the difference.