Women Should Avoid Sexy Dress For High Status Jobs, Says Research
Christopher Philip
Women and men both benefit greatly from physical attractiveness. Previous research has shown that attractive men and women earn more and are granted greater latitude and favours from others and by extension greater success, if they are more aesthetically pleasing. However, it has also been observed that women are not taken as seriously when dressing overtly sexy and that many negative connotations arise, not all of which are favourable.
For the purposed of this research it is important to outline the difference between physical attractiveness and sexualizing one’s self. Physical attractiveness is a relatively fixed attribute. It is influenced by style including hair and make-up and general grooming, however, it is broadly defined by how the face and body is built and structured and it’s relative proportions. Sexiness, on the other hand is how physical attractiveness is displayed. For example, a low cut blouse revealing cleavage, short skirt with a slit, high heels with heavy make-up is an overt display of sexiness.
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While men could display their sexiness with bare chests or tight shirts, convention says that they have far less latitude. That it is to say, men are usually carefully constrained into specific uniforms such as suits, neckties and shoes. Even grooming practices prevents men from displaying their sexuality. Women, on the other hand, are permitted to showcase various attributes such as their legs, chests and (long) hair. For women, it is much easier to make modifications to their attire to emphasize or deemphasize their sexuality. This allows women to make decisions on how they wish to present themselves to others which is important because it is seen as a reflection of a woman’s underlying personality and values.
The Research
Peter Glick, and his associates out of Lawrence University, Wisconsin aimed to uncover if the occupation in which a woman finds herself and her emphasis on “sexiness” had any effect on her evaluation. Specifically, the researchers wanted to know if low and high status jobs influenced the impressions they made on others.
Subjects, 66 in total, were recruited to view videotapes of a female confederate. The confederate was either presented as a low-status receptionist or a high-status senior manager. The woman was then manipulated to either showcase her sex appeal or de-emphasis it. In the sexy condition, she wore make-up, low-cut skirt with a cardigan overtop and high-heeled shoes. In the low-sex-appeal condition, the same woman wore little make-up, black pants, a turtleneck, a business jacket, and flat shoes. The context remained the same for each condition.
After watching the video with the confederate in either the sexy condition or the not sexy condition, the subjects rated the confederates on her perceived competence and intelligence The subjects were also request to provide their emotional reaction (positive or negative) to the confederate.
The Results
The results showed that subjects felt that sexiness was inappropriate for both jobs overall. The neutral dress also evoked more positive emotions than sexy dress while negative emotions were more attached to the manager when she dressed sexily. Competence was also attributed more to the neutrally dressed target. Intelligence ratings were affected by the appearance manipulation when the participants believed the target was a manager but not when they believed she was a receptionist.
In summary, the participants viewed the sexy manager as less competent and less intelligent that the conservatively dressed manager while subjects rated the low-status receptionist more leniently.
How We Can Use The Information
The message from the study is clear – if women wish to be taken seriously and accelerate at jobs requiring competence and intelligence, then they should severely tone down their sexiness. Men seem to know this instinctively and have produced more uniformity amongst themselves in effort to showcase their talent over their physical looks.
On the other hand, and not specifically studied in this journal, sexiness might assist women in low-status jobs such as flight-attendants, restaurant servers and receptionists where they are expected to cater to other customers and may receive greater leniency and hence larger gratuities.
More importantly, the research suggests that perception is something that can be actively and successfully controlled through the use of simple things like dress and make-up. It would be wise for women to decide which avenue they wish to pursue in their careers and choose their dress accordingly.
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Resources
Peter Glick, Sadie Larsen, Cathryn Johnson, and Heather Branstiter. Evaluations Of Sexy Women In Low – And High-Status Jobs. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 2005. 29: 389–395.
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