Toward a Contextual Social Psychology of Clothing: A Synthesis of Symbolic Interactionist and Cognitive Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary, conceptual framework for the study of clothing behavior, based upon a synthesis of major concepts from cognitive social psychology and symbolic interactionism. Cognitive theorists regard clothes as cues that may be selected by perceivers to understand observed persons. A symbolic interactionist approach places more emphasis on the role of dress in social communication, with consideration for both wearers' and perceivers' viewpoints. The two conceptual approaches are not mutually exclusive, and they share common concerns for perceivers' evaluations of other persons and situations. A contextual social-psychological study of clothing would allow researchers, using multi-methodological approaches, to test hypotheses that consider social and cognitive dimensions of dress in interpersonal situations.

‘Never judge a book by its cover?’: students’ understandings of lesbian, gay and bisexual appearance

“…Lesbians and gay men who choose to make clear their sexuality through how they dress and appear potentially 75 risk rejection and disapproval, and may be at higher risk of discrimination, hate crimes and homophobic violence (Eves, 2004;Krakauer & Rose, 2002). It is for these reasons that more subtle codes of appearance may also exist; hence, lesbian and gay 'looks' can be subtle about not only what is worn, but also about how it is worn (Kaiser, 1998).…”

Cultural Omnivores’ Consumption: Strategic and Inclusively Exclusive

“…Appearance management is a self-identification process of creating, maintaining, or enhancing one's appearance in order to express the self and communicate (Kaiser, 1997); multifaceted appearance management is the development of multidimensional meanings of appearance consumption. The six items included "I work at trying to maintain a youthful appearance," "the clothes I wear reflect who I am as a person," "I want to look a little different from others," "I enjoy getting dressed up," "dressing well is an important part of my life," and "an attractive appearance is crucial for career success."…”

Influence of 3D Stereoscopic Video Running Time on Audience Perceptions

“…그리고 두 눈이 떨어져 있기 때문에 물체를 바로 볼 때 양쪽 눈과 바라보는 대상이 각을 이루게 되는 수렴 (convergence)이 있는데 이는 깊이를 인식하는 요소 중 하 나이고 [15] , 눈이 물체와 거리에 따라 렌즈의 두께를 바꾸어 초점을 조절하는 원근조절(accommodation) [18] . 즉 지각 대상에 대한 전반적이며 조직화된 판단을 내리는 것이다 [19] . 인상형성과정은 지각 대상에 대 한 여러 가지 정보들의 의미를 평가 또는 해석, 그것을 지각 자의 사전지식에 의해 조직화하고, 이를 바탕으로 대상에 대한 특성을 추론하며, 마지막으로 그러한 판단에 기초해 서 대상의 특성을 귀인하는 과정이라고 할 수 있다 [20] .…”