Personal Appearance as a Reflection of Social Attitudes: Stereotype or Reality?

Abstract

Does personal appearance or dress reflect fundamental social attitudes? Are radical and left-wing college students actually long-haired and bearded hippies, while conservative students are clean-shaven, short-haired, and conventionally clothed? Or, is this popular belief only a stereotype regarding the young, highly visible college population? To investigate this issue, 91 male and 102 female undergraduates at Boston University (M.,. = 19.5) were given Kerlinger's 26-item Social Attitudes Scale which purports to measure attitudes on a dimension of liberalism-conservatism. Responses were uichotomized into Right-wing, Moderate, and Left-wing categories. In addition, each S was independently rated on a seven-point semantic differential-type scale of personal appearance from Hip to Straight (high scores indicated straight or conventional middle-class appearance). Personal appearance was defined and analyzed separately for males and females in terms of hair and dress. For males, long hair, beards, and bell-bottom pants represented hip appearance, while short hair, shaven face, and crew or V-neck, button-down shirts represented extreme straight appearance. Similarly, the extreme hip female was defined in terms of long hair, Indian-like cosnunes and ornamentation, and bell-bottom pants, whereas the straight female was represented by medium-length straight hair, a tailored jumper slightly above knee-length, and pointed shoes. A 3 X 2 analysis of variance of Personal Appearance Scores produced significant main effects for Social Attitudes ( F = 3.84, d f = 2/187, f~ < .05) and Sex (F = 5.69, d f = 1/187, p < .01). Right-wing Ss were straighter in appearance (M = 5.15) than Moderates (M = 4.58) ; Moderates were rated as straighter than Left-wingers (M = 4.20). In addition, females were judged as straighter in appearance (M = 4.98) than their male counterparts (M = 4.31). These findings suggest that both personal appearance and social attitudes can be regarded as dimensions of a fundamental orientation to social change. Thus, individuals whose attitudes and beliefs are social-change oriented are more likely than those with conservative or traditional dispositions to accept liberal modes of non-verbal communication such as dress and appearance (Kelley, 1969). Moreover, the reIative hesitancy of the female student to accept radical or hip modes of appearance and dress may be related to the importance of neatness as attached to the uaditional female role which is largely absent from hip standards of appearance. It may also reflect the present-day in male dress and appearance, a revolution which has introduced considerable diversicy into the wardrobe of the American male.