Study by Harvard University looks at how people react to non-conformity

A study by Harvard has regarded socks as a marker of success. Titled as, “The Red Sneakers Effect”, the study researched about 'non conformity' among people and how they respond to it. However, it concluded that non conformity is often regarded as ‘conspicuous consumption’ and is usually associated with an assumption of high status and confidence. 

Socks as a 'marker of success'

According to the study, people grant higher status and competence to nonconforming rather than conforming individuals. The study says, “These positive inferences derived from signals of nonconformity are mediated by perceived autonomy and moderated by individual differences in need for uniqueness in the observers. An investigation of boundary conditions demonstrates that the positive inferences disappear when the observer is unfamiliar with the environment, when the nonconforming behavior is depicted as unintentional, and in the absence of expected norms and shared standards of formal conduct”. The study concluded that low status people in an organisation abide more by the dress codes than people at higher positions. 

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(Credits: TheRedSneakersEffect)

Written by Silvia Belleza, Francesca Gino and Anat Keinan, the study had three major aspects- Gym Chic, Business Time Socks and Professional Peacocking. The first aspect included testing in high-end boutique stores. As a part of the test, 109 female adults in downtown Milan were recruited. 52 of these were shop assistants in boutique stores. The boutiques sold brands such as Armani, Burberry, Christian Dior, La Perla, Les Copains, and Valentino. The remaining 57 participants were recruited at Milan's central station. They had very less experience of working in such stores.All these participants were asked to describe their perception of a person using a written scenario of a woman entering a high end boutique store. The participants were asked a serious question in order to conclude if they believed the woman was a luxury or VIP client. After the process was completed, researchers came down to the conclusion that both shop assistants and the other women assigned a high status to the non-conforming woman wearing gym clothes. This trend was familiar with the shop assistants who were more used to the boutique sales environment.

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(Credits: TheRedSneakersEffect)

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In the second aspect which was the ‘Business time socks’ aspect, the researchers focussed at non-conformist dress in a professional setting. The same pattern was followed as around 159 participants were recruited from Harvard University. Again, the participants were given a description of the dress of a fictitious person. The results concluded that the more casually dressed a person was, the higher their status was considered to be.  In the third aspect which is termed as ‘professional peacocking’, the researchers studied till what degree can non conformity be done intentionally. However, the study concluded that even higher status was granted to a non-conforming dresser in the workplace. This was when it was perceived to be intentional and not an accident.

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(Image Credits and Inputs: Unsplash/AP)