What do you see when you open your sock drawer? Is it just a plain mix of white sports socks and black dress socks? Or are you greeted with a whole rainbow of different colors and patterns ready to spice up the heat beneath the pants legs of every outfit?
Socks are a necessity for all of us, but there’s a study that says if your choice is of the wild and crazy variety, it can show off your vibrant personality and also affect how your peers view you.
Naturally, everyone wants to fit in with the people around them. Conformity helps us to be accepted as part of the group and to be treated like we belong. All too often, when someone doesn’t try to fit in with the others around them, they can be viewed differently by their peer groups and considered a bit odd. That is why you see so many people wearing the same styles, sporting the same hair-dos and purchasing the same brands as their friends. This conformity provides a sense of belonging that makes people feel comfortable.
Crazy socks are a different story altogether though. They wait patiently, hidden beneath your pants legs to offer a glimpse of your colorful world, to those that pay attention to the more elegant details in life.
The Journal of Consumer Research published a study that researched the theory that others can view those who do not conform to social norms as being more competent and having increased status.
Let’s say you’re a member of the quirky sock club and love to dress your feet up in brightly colored socks with characters or patterns on them; what does this say about you? Well, the study says: “We proposed that, under certain conditions, nonconforming behaviors can be more beneficial to someone than simply trying to fit in. In other words, when it looks deliberate, a person can appear to have a higher status and sense of competency,” stated authors of the study, Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino and Anat Keinan from Harvard University.
Imagine a lovely businesswoman dressed in a pantsuit who gives her customers a flash of her purple unicorn socks as she crosses her legs. This clothing choice, although subtle and most often hidden, now gives the impression that this woman is daring, wears what makes her happy and is proud of her choice. This makes her stand out as unique and a natural leader in her customer’s eyes.
Embodied Cognition is a thought-provoking subject about our cognitive processes and how the clothes we choose to wear affects us. If you frequently pull on a pair of whacky rainbow-swirled socks, it can alter your mood and the way you feel. Dr. Adam Galinsky who is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University led this exciting study.
Dr. Galinsky said, “clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about ourselves.”
This means that from head to toe, the choices we make in our clothing can affect the way feel, think and behave.
When you choose to wear your favorite pair of zebra print socks, it shows others that you are creative and unique. It helps you feel good about yourself when you have the confidence to embrace and be proud of the choices you make and this can lead to achieving more success because you believed in yourself. It shows a lighthearted attitude towards the trends of society and other people’s views. While subtle black socks let us hide in the shadows of society’s trends, a pair of crazy socks sets you apart as a unique and interesting individual that others would love to get to know.
So, if you’re a fan of the silly socks, wear them proudly and let those around you catch subtle glimpses of the different layers that show off your individuality. You’ll feel more confident by the end of the day and could be viewed as more competent by your peers.
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About the Author: Bethany Vincent is a writer from La Grange Kentucky who has loved playing with words since she first learned to speak. She lives with her teenage son and adopted dog daughter in a cute, yellow house with a picket fence. During college at the University of Louisville, she could be found at the writing center most of the time and her main areas of focus were literature, creative writing, and visual arts. Bethany has contributed articles and created content for many websites and blogs during her writing career. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, juggle-dancing, yoga, photography, cooking and singing along with her favorite songs while in the car driving. In the future, she plans to finish writing her first book and hopes to travel to all the beautiful places that she’s read about.
