Clothing Preferences of Male Athletes: Actual and Perceived

Abstract

Clothing preferences of 74 black and 42 white male university athletes in relation to their self‐concept, athletic ability, race, socioeconomic status, and white student perception were investigated. Instruments used were the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale, an athletic ability rating scale, a background information sheet, and a clothing preference and perception measure. Data were analyzed with multiple regression and analysis of variance. Race was a significant variable for clothing preferences of male athletes. White students perceived black athletes as wearing clothing that was more attention‐getting than that worn by white athletes. Actual clothing preference differed from perceived clothing preference for black, but not for white athletes.