Wearing a suit makes you think differently, scientists reveal



Watch out for people in suits- they feel more powerful than you

Man in business suit, photo taken by RiccioFix on Flickr under creative commons license
What you wear can affect how you think
If you ever get annoyed about having to wear an uncomfortable suit, and cannot see why you should have to, this may change your mind.
Scientists have found that wearing a suit makes you see the world differently, and yourself as more powerful.
“Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world,” Abraham Rutchick a researcher at California State University told the Atlantic.



Wearing a snazzy and crisp smart outfit also is likely to stop you worrying about the finer details and make you focus on the broader strokes, according to the scientists at the California State University who have published the article 'The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing'.
There are two main kinds of thought processes we use to think about a situation- abstract (broad) and concrete (narrow and specific). When we wear a suit, we are more likely to think of the world in the abstract.

How your clothes can affect how you think

It's not that the sensation of wearing a collar changes how you think. It's the psychological cues it ius giving your mind.
Medical Daily suggested what the psychological mechanism behind that might be:
"Research has shown that social distance (instances where you’re not familiar with others) in the form of politeness increases abstract thinking — and formal clothes are associated with social distance."

This is how thinking more abstractly might affect what you do






Thinking more abstractly can mean that when you get criticism, you’re less likely to focus on the little details of it, and what it might mean about you, so that means your ego will be less affected.
In addition, the professors who conducted the study said that thinking about money with an abstract processing style might improve how you spend it—skipping impulsive purchases and instead making long term ones,


which can be more sensible.
Has that worked for the banking sector? We're not sure. But clearly they should be encouraged to wear formal suits.
On the flip side- do we really want people in high powered jobs having even bigger egos and feeling more powerful?