What you wear can change your psychological processes

The confidence we feel when we put on a new outfit is evidence enough that what we wear can be easily linked to what we feel.  High heels can make a woman feel more powerful,  a blazer can make us feel more influential and a red dress - more seductive!

Just how is it that our clothing can act on the way we feel?  A study by Adam and Galinsky (2012) examined the effect of clothing on our psychological processes. 
The study found that wearing certain pieces of clothing could change our cognitive processes and enhance performance on tasks.  

The experiment began with examining the effects of wearing a lab coat.  The researchers state: 
"A pretest found that a lab coat is generally associated with attentiveness and carefulness. We therefore predicted that wearing a lab coat would increase performance on attention-related tasks. In Experiment 1, physically wearing a lab coat increased selective attention compared to not wearing a lab coat."

The second phase of the experiment examined people who beleived they were wearing a white coat described as a doctor's coat, vs people wearing a white coat described as a painter's coat.  Low and behold, the group wearing the coat described as a doctor's coat showed increased sustained attention on a task, compared to the "painter's coat" group.  

The authors conclude that the effects of the study were associated with both the symbolic meaning of the clothing, as well as the physical experience of wearing the clothes.  

With this in mind, choose your outfit carefully!  It just may affect how your think, how you perform and even what you do!!!

Here's some inspiration!

Miranda Kerr, wearing Equipment Blouse

Julianne Hough, wearing Rag and Bone Newbury Booties

Not sure about the jacket, but my pick is this Anine Bing Leather Jacket

Rachel Bilson rocking a fedora - my pick, Rag and Bone

I just found an article called "The Psychology of Lululemon" which discusses the idea that we may be more likely to engage in exercise if we look the part, and may be perceived as more confident at it by others!  Does anyone agree?  I for one, do feel more motivated to go to the gym when I have some stylish workout gear....whilst this sounds superficial, it gets me in the door, and is more likely to keep me coming back!  
What are your thoughts?