Using Fashion Psychology to Enhance Your Sense of Style: Social Perception and Dress

1. Introduction to Using Fashion Psychology to Enhance Your Sense of Style: Social Perception and Dress: Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm happy to be presenting to you using facts and psychology to enhance your sense of style, social perception, and dress. And in this class we're going to talk all about how to use psychology to become just a little more attuned to the messages that we're conveying through our clothing. Now, just a little bit about me. I'm a licensed psychologist. I work with children and families in the area of trauma and abuse. I also work in the area of bashing psychology or social psychology of dress, as we call it. And I think it's an exciting area of psychology. I think it's a big coming and one that we're going to dive into today. So as far as materials go, you don't have to buy anything. All you need is the closing your class. Also, you'll hear me say throughout some of the lessons, research shows or study show. And that's because I'm drawing my information from a number of different sources, some of which I'll share with you now. So this is the social psychology of dress. It is a textbook, but it's a good resource to have if you're interested in the topic. It has modern-day examples and up-to-date research. This is the psychology of fashion by Carolyn mirror. It's a really good Mecca to habits as simple read, it's a very interesting and she talks all about how our clothing choices and identity are related. And this is dressing identity. If a compilation of different articles that all talk about Dress Identity and the context in which it occurs. So that's it for introductions. Now we're going to head on over to less than one, where we'll talk about guiding principles, psychology of dress. So I'm sure you're saying what is the psychology of dress or fashion psychology as we're calling it. So one way to put it is that whenever you have something psychology like clinical or counseling psychology, it means you're applying psychological principles to that area. So for our purposes, we're going to be applying psychological principles to fashion or the way that we dress. So specifically, we're gonna be looking at social perception, which is what we perceive about others and dress. And it's a way for us to be more attuned to the messages that we're conveying through our clothing. Because we'll learn in this class that dress is really a complex communication system between ourselves and others. So in this class we're going to start off by doing an overview and we're going to learn a few guiding principles that pertain to the psychology of dress. Then we're going to be looking at some theories that help us to better understand what's going on in our brain when we choose to wear an outfit or when we see someone else where one. So I'm not gonna get too technical into the workings of the brain, but I will touch on the process. We're also going to be looking at different factors that affect our social perception as it relates to dress. And when I think back, there's, I mean aspects of ourselves, the where, aspects of the people perceiving us and the context in which it is all occurring. Next, we're going to discuss how those three factors, ourselves, others, and context interact. This is also known as the interactional view of social perception. Then we're going to briefly discuss schemas. Schemas are scripts that help us to organize our world and we'll understand how our personal brand schemas are created. And finally, we're going to dive into our project where we will be styling three outfits from one piece of clothing. And I think you'll enjoy that. 2. Guiding Principles of the Psychology of Dress: So in this lesson, we're going to be doing an overview and talking about some guiding principles that will help us to better understand the psychology of dress. So let's start off with a basic definition. What is psychology? So it's the study of individuals in a social group within a culture. And when we study individuals within a particular context, we're interested in knowing what's contributing to their behavior. So we may focus on their perceptions, well, what motivates them or their understanding of things. And when we study their behavior, we study it to determine these areas. Similarly, when we're studying dress, we're also studying it as a form of human behavior. And I think it's a relatively new research topic. Usually when we think of studying human behavior, we think of other topics like abuse or addiction, but not so much stress. So for this class, how are we defining dress? What is dress? So it's anything done to modify the body in some way, whether it be piercings or hair dye or clothing, it's all outward modifications of the body. And I think dress is an interesting behavior to study because it's something that we do every day but may not think deeply about the meanings behind our clothing or what we choose to wear. So the first guiding principle that I want you to make note of is dress is a complex communication system and we use it to determine behaviors and their meanings. So if you see a store employee wearing a uniform or a well-dressed person walking around the store with no bag, that will determine your behavior towards that person. So if you need help finding something, you know, to ask that person, their clothing gives a specific meaning to the behaviors you see, like stacking shelves. If someone were stacking shelves and they didn't look like an employee, that might give a different message. It might seem strange or it just might seem like a helpful customer. So when we're looking at dress as a form of communication, what we're doing is we're using symbols in our appearance to fit our communication together. And the meanings of those symbols are constantly being modified. So if I went up to a person who looked like an employee because the person was wearing a shirt like the other employees, and then that person turned around and said, I don't work here, the meaning of our interaction would be modified. And that's actually happened to me quite a few times. It's embarrassing, but it does happen. Maybe I'd look a little closer and see the shirt isn't exactly the same as the other employees and maybe it doesn't have a logo. Similarly, if I see police officers in uniform, they're telling me they're on duty and my communication with them will be based on that message. Another example is the rise of athleisure, which is wearing athletic gear to do leisure activities. So if you were wearing leggings and sneakers about 20 or 25 years ago, people may assume you're going to the gym, but that's not necessarily the case anymore. Now, you could be going anywhere. So we don't just use symbols randomly. Our symbols are impacted by culture. We use culturally constructed codes to send and receive messages about appearance. So when we see someone dressed in a wedding dress or a suit, it sends a certain message and they may mean different things to different people, depending on who's doing the perceiving. But we know that they both reflect different institutions in our society. To use another example, a person with arm tattoos and maybe tattoos on their neck and face will send a different message than someone wearing what we might consider modest attire, like a yarmulke or a suit. One might be looked upon as anti-establishment, although I think that's changing a little bit and the other may reflect an orthodox religious attire. So given these examples, we understand that cultural historical perspectives influence the meaning we ascribe to dress. So if you see someone in a full skirt, it might evoke a time in history, maybe just after World War Two, when people wanted to revert back to quote unquote, simpler times. There's a romanticized feminine quality to it that people longed for. So if you were to see someone wearing that now, it might be interpreted within that context and evoke a similar feel. However, if I were to wear it with a crop, hoodie or sneakers, I'm adding a more modern sportswear feel to it. And my mixing of styles may create some tension to the outfit, making it a more complex message and perhaps an interesting one. So we understand that culture influences the meanings or symbols we ascribe to dress and cultural values can either be perpetuated or challenged by dress. So, for example, we spoke about the rise of athleisure clothing where people were comfortable clothes for workouts in other settings, and this seemed to follow the push towards healthy or green living. It's a cultural value that's perpetuated through this athleisure clothing. On the other hand, it also challenges cultural values reflected in a more formal way of life. Back in the day, you had your going out clothes and you had your working out clothes and that was considered, quote unquote proper. Now it's less compartmentalized and challenges our ideas about what's proper. So knowing that what we wear challenges or perpetuates cultural values and may send a familiar or a unique message, we understand that we can create our own reality by manipulating dress. So if I feel like being ultra feminine, I might opt for heels and a dress, or if I want to be fashionable, I might choose my most up to date. Pieces I dress can be driven by how we feel and what we want to convey. And so when we convey messages through our dress, others are receiving that message. And what they notice are what we call salient cues and salient cues are what stands out to you. So a ring on the left finger may signal marriage raids may signal a celebration of ethnicity. A 90s T-shirt with Snoop may signal trendy. And later on, when we talk about our project, we're going to be paying particular attention to dress cues when we put together our outfits. So what is the take away, what are the main points from this lesson? No one dress is a complex form of communication, and we use it to understand how we are to interact with others, to the messages we sent through dress are impacted by culture. Three, we can create our own realities or image by perpetuating culture, challenging it or a mixture of both. And for the messages we receive are embedded in salient cues that are noticeable to us, although we may not always be consciously aware of it. So one of my favorite takeaways from this lesson is that we can create our own realities through dress and it really just speaks to the power that clothing can have if we're not feeling so good. One day we put on an outfit we enjoy and it may not take away all our problems, but it will move us in a positive direction. So for our next lesson, we're going to talk about using theories of social perception to help us to better understand what's going on in our brain when we choose to wear an outfit, when we see someone else wear one. 3. What's Going on in Our Brain When We See an Outfit?: So welcome to what's going on in our brain when we see an outfit. So when we ask that question, what's going on in our brain? When we see others where something or ourselves where something we're studying an area of psychology known as social cognition. So as you know, cognition comes from the word cognitive, which has to do with mental processes. And it focuses on how we're processing information. As you know, a lot of messages are being sent back and forth from the brain to the body. And social has to do with interpersonal situations. So, social cognition refers to mental processes that focus on how people make sense of or process information about themselves and others. So in our attempt to make sense of ourselves or others, we think we perceive, we judge and we make inferences about people. Or to put it another way, we make judgments and inferences based upon what we perceive and form impressions. So this is what is known as social perception. And it has to do with how and what we perceive about people. So there are two things to remember when we're considering what we perceive about people. Number one, we tend to rely on visual information and forming social perception. And two, we selectively attend to some information but ignore others. The cues that we tend to pay attention to are what we call novel cues. And those are cues that are unexpected or new, or salient cues, which are cues that stand out or important to us. And example of novel or salient cues might be self-help features like an orthopedic shoe lift or coloration or pattern. All of these affect social perception and sum cubes even affect us below our conscious level of awareness, such as fragrance. So in addition to knowing that we perceive or attend to stand out keys to form impressions of people. There's just a little more to understanding how the social perception process works. So essentially, the social perception process occurs when a perceiver, the person doing the perceiving, makes inferences about a target person, also called the stimulus or the where in a particular context or environment. And all three variables contribute to the social perception process. And variables are just elements that change. So when we talk about the stimulus or Target, or also known as the Where we're referring to aspects of us that affects social perception. When we talk about the perceiver or everyone else, we're referring to aspects of the perceiver that affect what he or she perceives. And that will be based on what's unique to the perceiver. And when we talk about context, we understand that social perception is affected by the context in which perception occurs. So let's use an example. Look at these men. What do you perceive about them? So to me as the perceiver, when I look at these men, they looked to me like they're very much into fashion. So why do I say that? What key stand out? So there are a few salient cues that stand out to me. One, both men are wearing blazers and accessories, which kind of gives off that well-dressed put together look. One is wearing a bright colored blazer and a fedora with a red band on it, which kind of says, you know, I'm traditional, but I like to stand out with color. The other one is wearing a spring scarf and an oversized bag, which further suggests some knowledge of what's trendy. And they seem to be at a social event where they're free to express themselves in this way. So that's what I see as the perceiver and what I see is unique to me. What you see, maybe something different. So think about what you see. So what's the takeaway from this lesson? So in this lesson, we define social cognition and social perception. And we understand that it has to do with mental processes and how and what we perceive about people. Number two, we learned that we attend to novel or salient cues in clothing like unique coloration or pattern. Number three, we talked about three factors that influence the social perception process. The perceiver who makes inferences about a target person in a particular environment or context. So the thing that stood out for me in this lesson is that it's not just the where that influences the social perception process, but the perceiver does as well. And I think that's why it's important not to get overly concerned or hung up on what others are thinking about your clothing. Because there are certain aspects of the perceiver that have nothing to do with you and you have no control over. And our next lesson we're gonna talk about another theory that will help us to better understand the topic. 4. Social Perception and Dress: A 4-Stage Process of Social Perception: Welcome to the four-stage process of social perception. So in this lesson, we'll be looking at four different processes that can occur when we perceive people's clothing or dress. Now, they may occur in the order presented, or maybe one of four will occur, or two or four will occur. But the point is, anyone can occur. So the first process is Q selection. As we said in an earlier lesson, we use novel or salient cues as a basis for forming perceptions, although we may not always be aware of it. So a perceiver so much information that has personal relevance to them, whether it be clothing, style, a certain color, or level of appropriateness. And these judgments are affected by the queues themselves, the context in which the cues occur, and something about the perceiver themselves. So for example, some perceivers may notice she's considered to be fashionable. Others may not. So similar to an earlier lesson. Let's look at some examples of Q selection. So look at this guy. What cues do you notice on him? Well, I notice that he's wearing a shirt and a tie. So maybe he's going to an interview or to his day job. He's also wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket. So that might suggest he likes to look cool or have a little swag as they say, and his shape up and t further supports that. Let's look at some more examples. Look at this girl. What do you notice about her, what Q. Stand out on her? Well, I noticed that she's wearing gold jewelry and poke it out socks, which kind of gives off a bohemian Bible. And I think her setting further supports it. She's in an eclectic setting with a velvet seat and black and white floors and greenery in the back. So think about what you notice on her. The second stage is interpretive inference. That is, when we see a queue, we tend to infer traits of a person based upon the cues that we notice. And we kind of did it in the previous example. So a common example is glasses. When someone is wearing glasses, we may infer that they are intelligent. Now of course, that may or may not be the case. But glasses and intelligence is something that we tend to associate together. And the reason why we think so is because of the mediator or mediating variable which is reading. That is, there's an assumption that if you wear glasses, you read a lot and therefore must be intelligent. Reading is the mediator. So associating traits with cubes is influenced not just by the where, but the person doing the perceiving. And of course, it may not always be accurate. The third stage in the process is known as extended inference. And that's when you make an inference not about the stimulus person or the wear, but a person associated with aware. And we may use extended inferences a lot more than we realize. So for example, if you see someone with a really big or small engagement ring, you may assume whoever she's width is well off or not. Or if you see a child dressed very fashionably or fashion-forward, you may think the parents are fashion-forward or trendy as well. And companies and big brands use extended inferences quite a bit to shape the image of their companies. When you go into restaurants to the employees are usually wearing uniforms which reflects a sense of organization and structure. And the companies hoping when you see that you'll think of them as organized and structured to. And the last stage is expected behaviors. Based upon the inferences we make, we may expect a person to behave a certain way. So to go back to the restaurant example, when we see an employee or waiter in uniform, there's an expectation that the person will be, if not friendly, at least helpful. Although we know that's not always the case, these expectations affect our behavior towards people and the interpretation of others behavior. So for instance, if you see a nun dressed in a habit at a homeless shelter, you may assume she's there to help. But if you see someone and torn or worn clothes, you may assume they're there to get help from the shelter. And of course, you may or may not be right. And in the absence of additional information, we are likely to be influenced by what is known as expectancy conformation. That is, if people expect others to possess certain characteristics or act a certain way, they're likely to find those characteristics and interpret those behaviors in that way. So if you're in a school setting and you see some guys who are part of a fraternity, maybe they're wearing the letters or the colors. The impression you have a fraternity guys will likely determine how you read their behavior. So if you have an elitist or negative view of them and they're laughing and having a good time. It may confirm your negative view of them and you might perceive them as rowdy. But if you didn't have a strong view of fraternity guys, you might not interpret their behavior negatively. And our expectations for others behaviors can be so strong that they influence our judgments even in the face of contrary evidence. So if you see a fraternity guy who seems quiet and respectful, you may discount his behavior in favor of your expectations or your preconceived notions. So those are the four stages. Let's test our understanding of it with an example. So what if a day care provider, let's call her Ms. Mary because Miss Mary was my daycare provider. You physical appearances and dress cues to help her make decisions about whether or not to accept the child into her day care. Now, she may do this intentionally or she may not even be aware of it because sometimes we don't always appreciate the impact that dress has on us. So let's use this four-stage process of person perception to analyze Miss Mary's possible social perception process. So based upon the theory, we know that the cuz she selects will have personal relevance to her. And these queues will influence our judgments about the parent or parents. So if a mother comes in disheveled with no bag, Miss Mary might be concerned. She may believe that the person may not have the money or may not be organized and functioning. So the inference may be disheveled, disorganized, and won't pay, then she may make an extended inference about the child, perhaps that she might assume the child is not disciplined or structured, and of course, this may or may not be the case. Similarly, if apparent came and meticulously dressed, Miss Mary might infer the opposite. She might assume that the family is organized, functioning and able to pay, and then assume that the child is probably suitable. Of course, this may or may not be true because inferences and extended inferences aren't always accurate. And it's not just the where influencing the judgments that the person doing the perceiving. So before we move on to the next lesson, think about what dress and appearance cuz stood out to you on someone. What inferences Did you make? Did you make any extended inferences? Did you expect any behaviors where your expectations confirmed or disconfirmed? I'll give you an example that happened to me a few years ago. At my part-time job, I work with other psychologists in the area of trauma and abuse, and we were looking to hire a new psychologists. And all applicants came in dressed pretty much the same in a suit or business formal or casual attire. But one particular applicant came in in a tank top. And needless to say, she really stood out and not so much in a good way with some jobs that culture is more relaxed but not ours. And so naturally we made some inferences. We wondered if she cared or was really interested in the position. Interestingly enough, her behaviors seem to match her attire. She seemed very laid back and maybe not as interested. And it makes me wonder if she was wearing traditional clothes. Will we interpret her behavior the same way? How much did expectancy confirmation? The idea that if we expect the behavior, we're likely to interpret actions in a way we expect play a role. Again. Now it's your turn. As I said before, think about a time when someone's dress or appearance cuz stood out to you and share it with us in the discussion section. So what is the takeaway from this lesson? What are the main points? Number one, we learned that we select cues. Number two, we inferred traits based upon the cues we notice also known as inferences. Number three, we infer traits about the people associated with the stimulus person or wear, also known as extended inferences. Number four, we expect behaviors based upon the inferences we make. And five, inferences are not always accurate. So what stood out for me in this lesson is that we expect behaviors from people based upon their appearance, but we don't always know it. And that just speaks to the power of stereotypes. And stereotypes aren't always bad, but they can't be problematic if we don't know how they're impacting. That's why I think it's important for us to be aware of it. In our next lesson, we're gonna talk about aspects of the where the perceiver and contexts that affect the social perception process. 5. Aspects of the Wearer, Perceiver, and Context that Affect the Social Perception Process: Aspects of the where, perceiver and contexts that affect the social perception process. So welcome back. Before we move into our lesson, let's recap what we've done so far. So first we discussed some guiding principles that help us to understand dressed as a complex form of communication. Then we explain what social cognition and social perception are and the processes involved. So that is when a perceiver makes inferences about the wear or target person in a particular environment. Then we talked about the four stage process of social perception. So this includes detecting cues, making inferences, and expecting the behaviors. And in this lesson we're going to be discussing aspects of the where, perceiver and context that affect the social perception process. So let's focus on aspects of beware, also known as the stimulus or the target. And this refers to aspects of the wear that and social perception process. Some of these include clothing style, and this refers to different shapes or types of clothing, for example, pants per dresses. And research shows that shapes and types of clothing contribute to competency related perceptions. So for example, those wearing suits were thought to be more competent than those not wearing suits. Another aspect is fashionability. And fashionability is to what extent would the majority of individuals in a given time and place find a specific clothing style to be acceptable or unacceptable, aware. So these calls are up-to-date and acceptable for where and studies show that those dress fashionably tend to be judged more favorably. And the influence a fashion ability depends on who is forming the perceptions. So for instance, one study found that businessmen preferred moderately fashionable attire over very fashionable attire. Some people may not value fashionability, so it wouldn't have much influence on that. Clothing. Color also affects social perception. And according to color in contexts theory, color conveys meaning depending on the context. So for instance, red is often associated with female sexuality, but it may take on a different contact. And let's say, I'm little boys grew. Another aspect of the where that affects social perception is attractive dress. And this has to do with judgments concerning beauty or aesthetic appeal. So it's not surprising that studies show those judged to be attractively dressed are perceived more positively. So this is what dress for success is based on helping women who have low income get the clothes or Wardrobe they need to look well-dressed at work. And by looking at the part that helps to build self-esteem. And the last aspect of the wear will discuss his general appearance. So studies also show that those judged to have a poor general appearance perceived negatively. So for instance, studies show that people associated a poor appearance with negative qualities like delinquency or low SES or poor memory skills. And of course, this may or may not be accurate. So now we'll move on to aspects of the perceiver that affects what's being seen, also known as perceiver variables. So for instance, designer might notice someone who's fashionably dressed where as someone who's not attuned to fashion may not. So one aspect of the perceiver we'll talk about is self-monitoring. And that's the extent to which a person pays attention to interpersonal keys. It's the extent to which we adjust our presentation to fit a particular situation. So for instance, Research shows that employers who are highest self monitors are more influenced by attractive applicants. And the idea is that if you're so focused on adjusting your behaviors to fit a situation, you'll be really attuned to inferences and be affected by image. Another aspect of the perceiver is self-consciousness, and that's the degree to which a person's attention is focused on themselves. So studies show people who are self-conscious about their appearance are more likely to crack the by others as a function of their parents. Most likely if a person has self-conscious about an aspect of themselves, those are the cues they noticed in others. If they feel they don't look good in a certain pant because they feel out of shape. They're likely to notice someone else wearing eye similar pans. So again, aspects of the perceiver that impact their social perception process is the degree to which they won self-monitor. And high self monitors are more likely to be impacted by image and to sell consciousness. The more self-conscious they are about a certain attribute, the more likely they'll notice it in others. And lastly, contact affects the social perception process. That is the things present in the environment at the time social perception occurs. So for instance, genes are pined, but maybe not within the context of a wedding. Aspects of the target and the perceiver impacts social perception, yes, but it's limited within the context in which the perception occurs. So what is the takeaway from this lesson? There's one main takeaway and that aspects of the perceiver, as well as the wear and contexts, affects the social perception process. So I think that this lesson helps us be more attuned to why we might notice certain clothing on other people. Maybe it's fashionability or self-consciousness. And I think the concept of self-consciousness really stood out to me because it shows that how we feel about ourselves affect how we perceive other people. So if we feel like we can't work where certain dress or pants, and then we see someone else wearing one. We might be inclined to idolize them while making ourselves feel bad in the process. And I think a better idea is to wear whatever we like and then work towards any goals that we have. Maybe it's a weight loss goal or a goal to be more healthy. In our next lesson, we're gonna talk about an interactional view of the social perception process. 6. An Interactional View of the Social Perception Process: And interactional view of the social perception process. So in the last lesson, we talked about aspects of the target, the perceiver, and contexts that affects social perception. Now we'll turn our attention to how the interaction between the target and perceived or within a particular context occurs. So typically when we think of a perceiver making judgments and inferences about where we think of it as going in one direction. And the procedure doesn't necessarily affect the wear. But they do. Perceivers actions can have an impact on the aware. So for instance, if a perceivers stares at aware shoes and ask where did you get them from, that's gonna have an effect on the where. Or if someone said, How can you walk in those shoes, that T2 is going to have an effect on the wear. So according to the interactional view of social perception, perceivers and whereas negotiate the Where's identity. Whereas perceivers try to pull for the behaviors they expect. And where's either confirm or disconfirm self views. So in this negotiation process, self verification occurs where perceivers expected behavior, like if you assume someone's an employee and they're not, and the wearer will attempt to confirm who they are. So they may say, no, I don't work here. The wear is self verifying. And there are two ways where self verify. One is creating an environment that confirm selfies by deciding where and with whom to interact. Like seeking out familiar environments. But even then, negotiation may still occur and where's can acknowledge or reject the identity offered by the perceiver. So for instance, if a where it wants to be seen as stylish, they'll try to confirm this by wearing items they believe are stylish. So another way whereas may attempt to self verify is by distorting perceptions. So they can do this by minimizing the source, like they may say, you know, it's not a big deal. They can discount this source and say they don't know what they're talking about. So with an understanding of the negotiation process that takes place between perceiver and aware, let's turn our attention to an incident that occurred with a college student in Brazil. So f or reports this college student wore a mini draft that sparked backlash and protests. And the protesters called her all kinds of derogatory names. Apparently it got so bad she had to be escorted off of campus. So according to the social perception process, they were using her dress to make judgments about her, to characterize her negatively. And these judgments included inferences or assumptions about short skirts encounter. So as part of the interaction of view, both the protesters, MBA student are playing a role in the process. The protesters are impacting the student who may be scared or fearful. And she made given by changing her attire or she may be motivated to wear what she wants. She'll attempt to sell verify. So perceivers are responding to her like an outcast and she may push back by rejecting it and saying, You know, I'm not what you think. Or she may show she's not promiscuous by associating with a peer group that is sexually conservative whilst still wearing the skirt or not. Or she may just discount them altogether and resolve that these protests don't know what they're talking about. So the stimulus variables for the wear include the short dress, which signifies promiscuity. Precoding may have been considered fashionable and attracted to the student and others. But to the perceivers, the fashionability negatively influenced them because it was considered improper. With regard to the perceiver variables, they may have been high self-monitor is because they reacted so strongly to the student. Remember high self monitors of more influenced by image. They may also be highly self-conscious about their parents because they're using her short dress to negatively characterize her. And remember those high and self-consciousness or likely to judge others in areas they're self-conscious about. And the context with the specific culture apparently was not acceptable to wear short skirts in that environment. So there you have an interactional view of the social perception process. And I think what gets me about this lesson is the extent to which a perceiver has an impact on the wire. That's why I think it's really important to be clear on the message you want to convey through your clothing. Because if not, you can be easily swayed by what others think and not know what your on about. In our next lesson, we're gonna talk about schemas and their relationship to dress. 7. Schemas and Their Relationship to Dress: Schemas and their relationship to address. In this lesson, we're going to be talking about perceptual processes and their relationship to address. Specifically, we're gonna talk about one perceptual process known as schemas. And schemas are mental knowledge structures or scripts that help us to organize our world. There's really a script for almost everything. Script for going to school. You know that when you walk into the classroom, you notice sit down while the teacher talks. There's a script for going to a cafe. You know that when you walk into a cafe, you wait in line, you order, and then you sit down and talk. There's a script for going to the library. You know that when you walk into the library, you don't make a whole lot of noise and you borrow books from the shelves. So there are a number of different types of schemas. But the one we're gonna be talking about for this class is person schema. And person schema refers to a set of traits that we expect to go together in people. So for instance, we may think traits like honesty and dependability go together. The assumption being that if you're honest and you say you're going to be somewhere, you will be. So that makes you dependable. And this idea of expecting traits to go together forms the basis of what is known as implicit personality theory. And this is when we assume certain traits co-occur. And any attribute of a person, including dress, can be used to form implicit personality. And there are several dress and appearance cues that people can use when forming an impression. Let's do an activity. Take a look at this person, use your person schema or implicit personality theory to identify several traits this person might have, including additional inferred traits. And in this class, while the focus is on dress, you can use a range of traits including setting, facial expression, demeanor, and of course, dress to form an impression. So you can use anything that comes to mind and feel free to comment on the discussion section. But in the meantime, I'll tell you what comes to mind for me. So I noticed that this person has an office setting, but I feel like it may be a relaxed professional setting because he's in a button down shirt with his sleeves rolled back. He looks pretty trendy because he's clean cut with the groom Baird, smile on his face, which makes him seem friendly. Of course, there's the glasses and the laptop which suggests he's pretty smart and knows what he's doing, particularly since he looks laid back with his hands behind his head. And it's important to note that the idea of schemas or expecting traits to go together is what brands use to create their brand image and attract their customer base. And as consumers, we rely on brand scheme is to make our buying decisions. So when we go to buy perfume or shoes or clothes, we have a sense of what brands stand for what, and make our decisions based on that. Have you ever looked at a piece of clothing and didn't pay it any mind, but when you saw the brand, a different impression or read it differently, That's brand scheme at work. And when we do our projects, you'll be considering your own brand schema. Let's take a look at some brands. So let's take the branch supreme. When you see someone wearing this brand and might evoke an upscale elitist or active where urban image. And you might think when you see someone wearing it, that they probably paid a lot of money for it, you might not think anything of a plain white shirt, but when you see the word supreme on it, it might have a different meaning. What about Louis Vuitton? What do you think when you see this brand? Maybe upscale, old money, somewhat classic. Let's look at this boutique. I don't know the name of it, but it seems modern, seems minimalists. It seemed bright and happy and Gurley. And that's the brand schema we associate with this door even though we don't know the name of it. So what's the takeaway from this lesson? One, schemas are scripts that help us to organize our world to person schemas referred to a set of traits we expect to go together in people. Three, this is the basis of implicit personality theory, which is when we assume certain traits co-occur. And for brands use schema to make it easier for customers to recognize them. So that's a wrap for all the lessons. Now let take everything we learned and startup project. So in this class we discussed schemas and scripts that we carry around in our head are very powerful organizing tools. I think the idea of brands schemas is really interesting because it shows that brands work really hard to create an image based upon their ideals. And when we do our project, we're going to create our own brand image based upon our ideals. So everything we learned and go ahead and start our project. 8. Project: 1 Piece, 3 Ways: So before we start our project, let's do a final recap. From lessons one to six, we learned the following. Dress is a complex communication system. Next, we discussed social perception as an area of social cognition that focuses on how and what we perceive about people. We understand that we as the perceivers make judgments and inferences about, whereas within a particular context, we went over a four-stage process of social perception, which provides a more in-depth understanding of how we make judgments. Detecting dress and appearance cues, making inferences and expecting behaviors. Then we spoke about specific aspects of the where perceiver and contacts that impacts social perception. We discussed an interactional view of the social perception process to gain an understanding of the negotiation process that occurs between perceiver and where were the perceiver is busy trying to confirm expectations. And the where is busy trying to self verify all within a specific context. And lastly, we touched on schemas ME implicit personality theory to show that we expect certain traits to go together in people. We talked about how straw and schemas can be even if we initially felt unsure about its product. So now we're going to use all the information we learned and apply it to styling and output of our own. What we're gonna do is we're gonna take one piece of clothing and style it three different ways to make three separate outfits. This will help us become more attuned to the message we are conveying through our clothing. And I think when there are limits to our dress, we become sharper, more creative. So that's why I limited it to one piece of clothing style through different ways. So to make the process more manageable, I've supplied you with addressed Hughes worksheet to fill in. I'm gonna go to the one that I did with you and then I've attached a blank copy for you in the project and Resources section. So let's go through the worksheets together. So first, what we're gonna do is we're going to identify one main piece of clothing. And I chose black leather coulomb's. Then it says, what message do you want to convey to each outfit? So I'm going to show you my three outfits and the corresponding message. So for the first outfit, the message is classic and traditional with a twist. It says, I can fit in at my job and I'm also an individual with the second outfit, the messages, it's feminine and girly, but with an element of sophistication. It appeals to both my fun and playful side, but also to my desire to be about business. So for the third outfit, the messages, lavish and luxurious elements to a feminine ensemble. I like glamorous things because it feels like dress up something I enjoyed as a kid. So now that we have the messages we want to convey, let's look at the stimulus variables and what the salient cues might be. Remember to consider shapes. Types of clothing, fashionability, colors, aesthetics, and general appearance. So with regard to the stimulus variables and salient cues for the first outfit, I wrote that black leather coulombs have a functional and modern look. The fitted turtleneck is sleek and fashionability is high because of the simple shape and most people wouldn't have a problem wearing it. The pink color is unexpected in the glasses may suggest intellectual and studied. And the gold bracelet is also sleek and modern. For output number two, the socks probably stand out the most. It's both quirky in Gurley and either said, I'm not afraid of trends or I marched to the beat of my own drum. The geometric print is modern and both dens out as feminine and perhaps ebooks, traditional womanhood. So for the third outfit, the piece that stands out the most is the sequent talk. The BOE also stands out adding some conventional flair. So you have the comfort of tradition with the excitement of something more lavish. And the snake area is also stand out as something over the top and luxurious. Now that we've identified queues, where are the meanings for these twos coming from? Think about any historical meanings they may have. So for outfit one, leather tend to signify a modern and edgy. And a black turtleneck tends to depict serious mindedness. The pig set nice shoes are bold in Gurley and the glass is reflected intelligence. The goal bracelet is flashy and aesthetically pleasing. And altogether the cold reflects a little edgy, conventional, modest, modern and intelligent. So for outfit to the bows and socks are often seen as prim and proper and feminine. And within the context of leather pants is edging meets feminine. And for outfit three sequence and shiny dangling earrings represent something more lavish and perhaps fit for party, but the bot is more conventional. And so moving on to the next question, how would you describe the personal brand schema for each outfit? So for outfit one I would say intellectual but not stuffy, organized, no nonsense, not fluffy. For outfit to I would say modern girl who likes to be girly in trendy and may be attuned to what's going on in culture. For output three, I would say, enjoys being somewhat over the top and maybe upbeat and optimistic. And the final question is, didn't negotiation occur? Was your message consistent with any feedback you may have received or did you feel the need to self verify? So for me, I remember when I wore my turtleneck, someone said, Wow, it looks like I should be sitting on your couch, meaning a cycle therapist's couch. And this is what I thought of when I put it on so it fit my message. But if someone had a reaction inconsistent with my message, I might have felt the need to self verify and may have answered with something like, this is what we were at the office. So that's my worksheet now it's your turn. So go ahead and get those outputs together. Use your worksheet and be sure to post your outfits and any insights you may have gained from your worksheet. I hope to see you in the discussion.