Enclothed cognition and its role in helping us master new skills

A clever young man walks into an empty room, and in front of him finds a white coat with a note telling him to put on the coat and sit down.

In the next room, another young man does the same, and after a while a man without expression on his face enters each room and carries a card, which looks like this:

The man tells each seated person, "Name the colors rather than the words as quickly as you possibly can."

Who is the young man who will excel in this difficult test, and which of them will have difficulty in it? If you think there is no way to know the answer, then you are wrong, the secret is in the note on the coat.

In this article, we will explain how this small observation caused one person to outperform the other, and how it will affect the way you think about the clothes you wear every day in your life.

Lab Coat Experiment: How Important Are Your Clothes?

The story above is not hypothetical; Rather, it was a real experiment conducted by two researchers at Northwestern University. We all know that the clothes you wear psychologically change how other people see you, but what the researchers who conducted the test, Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky, wanted to know was, “Can the clothes you wear change your view of yourself and your behavior?”

So they gathered some college students to test this out, gave them a white lab coat to wear before taking the above test, and then told the students, "Name the colors rather than the words you see on this card as fast as you can."

One group outperformed the others; It performed about 50% better, while the other had difficulty achieving it, and the reason is that before the test, the researchers told members of one group that the coat belonged to a doctor, while they told the other group, “This is a painter’s coat.”

This simple change affected the students' view of themselves so much that it led to the second group failing the test.

Everyone knew, of course, that they were neither doctors nor painters, but it didn't matter, nor did it matter that they wore the same coat, just to think that they wore a doctor's coat was enough to have some of the qualities we usually find in doctors, which in this case was, attention to detail and careful analysis.

The scientific name for this effect is "Enclothed Cognition", which means that wearing certain people's clothes will transfer some of their characteristics directly to you.

How to Take Advantage of Enclothed Cognition to Master a New Skill

In a Northwestern University study, it was found that dressing like a doctor actually conveys some of the qualities of a real professional doctor to ordinary people. But the truth is that we most likely already possess these qualities. But wearing clothes encourages us to put more effort into showing them off.

If this is the case, then there are many other qualities you can bring out in yourself just by wearing the right clothes, for example what did the researchers give one of the groups? They set up some baggy clothes and another fitted suit, and then asked them to test their skateboarding skills.

If you have a skill or trait that you would like to develop, dress like someone who already has it, it is a proven way to enhance it in yourself. For example, if you want to be a better plumber, buy work clothes and start looking at the pipes, if you want to create a tech company, dress like someone who already owns a company.

In conclusion

Whatever you want, find someone who embodies it, and wear the clothes of their profession, the clothes you wear will not give you the skills and qualities you want; But it helps your mind to be more disciplined to develop them.

You may start to feel like you're pretending, but over time, you'll really become that kind of person, and when you change your clothes, you'll still have those skills you've acquired.