It comes as no surprise that the clothing we wear has a major influence on how others perceive us. There are valid reasons why we don’t typically sport sweatpants at job interviews or ripped jeans at funerals; generally, we tend to present ourselves in attire that is socially acceptable so that others are more likely to form positive impressions of us. In this experiment, we examine the effect that clothing has, not only on social perception, but also on social influence, particularly in regards to helping behavior. This study investigates the prospect that people in general may be more willing to help others based entirely on what color clothing the person in need is wearing. Research on the matter of color psychology holds relevance in that
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Still, if they chose not to or were unable to donate money, this was considered “non-helping behavior.” Participants that did choose to donate money were considered to have exhibited “helping behavior.” Regardless of whether participants opted to donate money or not, we made sure to thank them for their time and/or contribution. It is crucial to note that the entirety of the proceeds that we collected, which totaled $7.22, was donated to the American Cancer Society following the conclusion of the experiment. We performed the first half of the experiment under the first condition, in which both my partner and I wore bright, white clothing when asking if participants were interested in donating to the American Cancer Society. Once we had obtained responses from ten random individuals under that first condition, we changed our clothing so that we were dressed in only black, and repeated the aforementioned procedure under this second
Still, if they chose not to or were unable to donate money, this was considered “non-helping behavior.” Participants that did choose to donate money were considered to have exhibited “helping behavior.” Regardless of whether participants opted to donate money or not, we made sure to thank them for their time and/or contribution. It is crucial to note that the entirety of the proceeds that we collected, which totaled $7.22, was donated to the American Cancer Society following the conclusion of the experiment. We performed the first half of the experiment under the first condition, in which both my partner and I wore bright, white clothing when asking if participants were interested in donating to the American Cancer Society. Once we had obtained responses from ten random individuals under that first condition, we changed our clothing so that we were dressed in only black, and repeated the aforementioned procedure under this second