THE INFLUENCE OF CLOTHING COLOR ON ATTRACTION AND IMPRESSION FORMATION

Abstract

Previous research has shown that clothing is an important determinant of an individual\u27s initial impression of a stranger. Color is a readily perceived feature of clothing, and thus may be one dimension of attire that contributes to the impression conveyed by the wearer. Using the premises of attraction theory and the findings of investigations concerning color meaning and affect, it was hypothesized that clothing color would influence attraction responses toward a stranger and attributions of the stranger\u27s personality traits. Three levels of clothing color pleasantness were factorially arranged with three levels of personal trait similarity to provide the experimental conditions under which to test the hypotheses. The experimental manipulations were accomplished by varying both the stimulus person\u27s clothing color and the information given to subjects concerning the stimulus person\u27s personal traits. The clothing color corresponded to the subject\u27s choice of a pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant color as determined by pretests, and the trait information was contrived to be either similar or dissimilar to the subject\u27s own traits, also determined by pretests. The third level of personal trait similarity constituted a Control condition in which no trait information was given. Subjects responded to a picture of a female stimulus person, expressing their impressions on measures of attraction, general affect, and personality trait ratings. Analyses of variance showed that neither the clothing color nor the trait similarity manipulation influenced attraction or affective responses. In addition, trait attributions were not made on the basis of clothing color. Further analysis using multiple regression techniques indicated that two independent measures of perceived trait similarity were significant predictors of attraction responses but not of general affect. These findings were discussed in terms of their implications for attraction theory and for future research in the field of clothing and behavior