Congrats to Dr. Eric Hehman and colleague Dr. Neil Hester on their publication in Personality and Social Psychology Review
Public Abstract (from article)
Why is it that people often agonize over what to wear for a job interview, a first date, or a party? The answer is simple: They understand that others鈥� first impressions of them rely on their clothing, hairstyle, makeup, and accessories. Many people might be surprised, then, to learn that psychologists鈥� theories about how people form first impressions of others have little to say about how people dress. This is true in part because the meaning of clothing is so complex and culturally dependent. We propose a working model of first impressions that identifies four types of information that people infer from dress: people鈥檚 social identities, mental states, status, and aesthetic tastes. For each of these, we review existing research on clothing, integrate this research with related work from social psychology more broadly, and propose future directions for research.