Dress Well, Test Well

With some big testing dates around the corner, I wanted to share one of my favorite studies around cognition - and how what we wear affects how we think about ourselves.

We probably know that how we dress affects how others perceive us, whether that is dressing formally for a job interview or looking the part in varying social situations.  But newer studies have also shown that our psychological processes are impacted by not only the clothes that we wear, but how we feel about the clothing and what they represent.

In a series of experiments, Dr. Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University studied college students and how their testing outcomes were affected by not only the clothing they were wearing, but how they interpreted the symbolic meaning of that clothing.

In one experiment, students were given either street clothes or a white lab coat and then had to complete a series of cognitive tests.  The students who wore lab coats made half as many mistakes as those wearing street clothes. In a second experiment, students were randomly assigned to wearing a painter’s coat, wearing a doctor’s coat, or seeing a doctor’s coat.  The painter’s coat and the doctor’s coat were physically identical, with the only difference being the name of the article of clothing. Having to spot differences between two images, the students who wore a doctor’s coat had greater attention and discovered more differences.

Basically, it’s all about perception. The clothes we wear - and what we believe they represent - actually change the way we learn, the way we produce results, and how we perceive ourselves.

So how can we use this information to influence how we prepare for standardized tests like the SAT or ACT?

Think of an outfit you own, or would like to own, that makes you feel confident.  What type of clothing makes you feel like your best self?

How can you dress in a way that will help you to literally test better than if you were wearing something different?

It sounds crazy - but it’s been scientifically proven.  Take the extra time to cultivate an outfit for your test day that will make you look and feel smarter.  What do you have to lose?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html