CLOTHING BEHAVIOR OF WORK.ING WOMEN RELATED

TO SELF-IMAGE/CLOTHING-IMAGE CONGRUITY

AND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

by

Mary K. Bell Ericksen

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in

Clothing and Textiles

APPROVED:

Enid F. Tozier, Chairman

Barbara E. Densmore Joann F. Boles

Marjorie J. T. Norton lvf..ary Ann Zentner

N:. Joseph Sirgy

May, 1983

Blacksbcrg, Virginia

CLOTHING BEHAVIOR OF WORKING WOMEN RELATED

TO SELF-IMAGE/CLOTHING-I:MAGE CONGRUITY

AND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

by

Mary K. Bell Ericksen

(ABSTRACT)

Profound changes have taken place in the role of the

American female; she is no longer only a wife and mother

because 51.2 percent of the total population 16 years and

over are employed outside the home. The importance of

this segment of women has been evidenced in the popular

literature and by retailers who have created specialty

clothing areas catering to the employed woman.

Clothing and the self-concept have been related in

research studies for several years. Clothing also has

been related to occupational aspirations. The purpose of

the research was to develop a model using the theoretical

concepts actual self-image, ideal self-image, clothing-

image and achievement motivation to predict women's

clothing behavior for work.

Using the integrated self-concept theory, two hypo-

theses were formulated: 1) costumes which induce positive

congruity will be worn more than costumes which induce

positive incongruity or negative congruity, followed by

negative incongruity; 2) there will be a significant

relationship between congruity and achievement motivation

for five costumes.

The instrument used to collect data was composed of

a Clothing Congruity Measure which was developed using

five costume images: feminine, business-like, casual,

sexy and collegiate. The self-administered questionnaire,

including the Clothing Congruity Measure, the Mehrabian and

Banks ACHS, the Tausky and Dubin COAS and a demographic

section was mailed to 65 faculty and 65 staff at three

land grant universities. The rate of return was 60 per-

cent or 227 usable questionnaires.

A two-way analysis of variance was used to test the

first hypothesis. Clothing behavior means for the

feminine, business-like, casual and sexy images followed

the expected pattern of congruity, however, the collegiate

image did not. An aggregate analysis of all costumes

supported the hypothesis that an hierarchial order of

congruity conditions existed.

The second hypothesis was not supported. Congruity

and career anchorage position and congruity and achievement

motivation reached a statistical level of significance,

using Pearson correlations, for the business-like outfit,

but not for the other costume images.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express her appreciation to the

many individuals who contributed to the completion of this

study. A special note of gratitude is extended to the

following:

Dr. Enid F. Tozier, adviser, for her inspiration,

constant and untiring guidance and support during the

development and completion of this research, and during

the researcher's entire graduate program.

Dr. Barbara Densmore, Dr. Joann Boles, Dr. Mary Ann

Zentner and Dr. Marjorie Norton, connnittee members from

the Department of Clothing and Textiles, for reading the

manuscript and for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Dr. M. Joseph Sirgy, Department of Marketing, for

exposing her to the theory, for serving as a committee

member, and for help with the statistical analysis.

The faculty and staff of Michigan State University,

the Ohio State University and Virginia Polytechnic In-

stitute and State University for their responses to the

questionnaire.

To her husband, Duane, whose love, patience, under-

standing, and total support were essential to the comple-

tion of this research.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

LIST OF TABLES.

LIST OF FIGURES

CHAPTER

.. . I INTRODUCTION.

II

III

REVIEW OF LITERATURE .. Working Women .. . The Self-Concept ..... . Symbolism of Clothing. . . .. Self-Image/Product-Image Congruity Achievement Motivation. Behavior Related to Clothing .

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .. . Theoretical Framework .. .

Page

iv

vi

. .viii

1

7 7 9

16 19 29 35

42

Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 49 49 51

Operational Definitions ......... .

IV

V

VI

Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . Scope and Limitations of the Study Hypotheses . . . . .....

METHODOLOGY .... The Instrument . . The Sample~ .. . Data Collection .. . Analysis of the Data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .... . Description of the Sample ... . Findings Concerning the Hypotheses Discussion of the Findings .

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS . Recommendations ..

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

APPENDIXES. . . . . . . . . . . . A. Cover Letter and Instrument B. Additional Tables . . ...

VITA ..

V

51 52

53 53 64 65 65

67 67 75 98

. . 104 ... 110

. 117

. . 126

. . 126 . 136

. . 143

LIST OF TABLES

Table

1. Theory of Clothing Behavior Congruity in Relation to Self-Consistency and Self-

Page

Esteem Motivation. . . . . . . . 43

2. Matrix of Self-Congruity and Ideal-Congruity. . . . . . . . . . 59

3. Employment, Education and Income of Respondents. . . . . . . . . 68

4. Duration, Consistency and Advancement Related to Labor Force Participation 71

5. Marital Status, Age, Number of Children and Cultural Affiliation of Respondents. 73

6. Feminine Image Clothing Behavior Categorized into Congruity Conditions. . . . . . 77

7. Scheffe F Values for Mean Differences . . . . 79 8. Scattergram Correlations of Clothing Be-

havior with Self-Congruity and Ideal-Congruity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9. Business-like Image Clothing Behavior Categorized into Congruity Conditions. . 82

10. Casual Image Clothing Behavior Categorized into Congruity Conditions. . . . . . . 84

11. Sexy Image Clothing Behavior Categorized into Congruity Conditions. . . . . . . 87

12. Collegiate Image Clothing Behavior Categorized into Congruity Conditions. 90

13. Aggregate Congruity Conditions of Clothing Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3

14. Distribution of Career Orientation Anchorages . . . . . . . . . . . 96

15. Congruity Correlated with COAS and ACHS 97

vi

Table

16. Inter-item Consistency on Clothing Mea-

17.

sures for Pretest Sample ..... .

Inter-item Consistency and Alpha Co-efficients on Clothing Measures for Fina 1 Samp 1 e . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii

Page

137

140

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

1. Self-image/Clothing-image Congruity and Achievement Motivation Model ....

2. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Feminine Image Clothing Behavior ..

3. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Business-like Image Clothing Behavior

4. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Casual Image Clothing Behavior ...

5. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Sexy Image Clothing Behavior ....

6. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Collegiate Image Clothing Behavior.

7. Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Aggregate Clothing Behavior ....

viii

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Page

48

78

83

. . 86

. . 88

. . 91

. . 94

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

There has been a phenomenal change in the role of the

American female over the past decade. Traditionally, she

was expected to be a wife and mother but her responsibili-

ties have been altered to include employment outside the

home. In 1980, 51.2 percent of the total female population

16 years of age and over was employed, with 35 percent of

them doing clerical work, 18 percent in service positions

and only 6 percent employed as school teachers and managers

or administrators (Norwood, 1980). An increase in pro-

fessionally oriented female workers is expected to continue

as a result of the recent influx of more women than men

enrolling in college and penetrating in to areas such as

business, law and engineering which formerly were con-

sidered fields for males (Kandel, 1981).

Women usually do not wear the same type of clothing

to work that they wear for homemaking duties, for leisure

and for gala occasions. The importance of the working

female as a market segment has been shown in popular

literature such as Working Woman, Working Mother and Savvy

which have had many reports on the "dress for success"

concept. A comparison of articles in Glamour, January

through May in 1972 and 1982, revealed that twice as many

1

2

were related to successful dressing in 1982 than were seen

a decade earlier. Most of this popular literature and

other writings (Harragan, 1977; Sommer, 1977; Klemesrud,

1978) were based on subjective judgment and not empirical

research.

Concern of retailers with the female consumer already

has been evidenced by providing assistance in clothing

selection and creating specialty areas to serve this

special market's needs. For example, Dayton's, Minnea-

polis, created a career show and consulting service called

"For Your Image"; Sanger Harris, Dallas, has a "Career

Life Style Program for Women in Business"; Marshall Field,

Chicago, created "Field's Career Shop"; and Macy's New

York, has "Macy's By Appointment" (promoted as Macy's

MBA). Manufacturers of women's clothing also have

realized the importance of this expanding market; Albert

~ipon opened a division to meet the needs of rising young

executives called "Executive Dress" (Women's Wear Daily,

1982).

Some empirical research has investigated employers'

perceptions of dress for prospective employees in an

interview situation (Miller, 1976; Cook, 1978; Forsythe,

1981). The theoretical framework was based on communica-

tion of clothing in first impression situations. Data

indicated that clothing worn in an interview situation

should project an image desired by hiring agents.

3

The underlying theme of the popular literature and

these few research studies has concentrated on clothes as

symbols of conformity used as a means to achieving success

goals. Although conformity in apparel may not be required,

the clothing expectations of employers and fellow workers

may be so precise that the end result is, in effect, a

uniform-like image. Yet, many workers may believe that by

wearing distinctive clothes they can set themselves apart

from others, increase their visibility to significant

others and add to their own worth. However, Cowley (1977)

in Newsweek cautioned women about overemphasizing the im-

portance of apparel.

When the bosses find a woman can raise the company's profit line, they don't really care what she wears. There's no doubt that in-appropriate clothes are an unneeded handicap to a woman in business, but the notion that "success" clothes can substitute for talent and energy on the job is just another fashion fantasy. Taken too seriously, all the "dress for success" maxims may lead a woman not to the boardroom, but only to the dressing room (1977, p. 77).

These studies and popular articles also have not

considered the individual's personality and particularly

one aspect of it, the self-concept. The self-image may be

explored in terms of how an individual sees himself and

his ideal-self.

Treece (1966) related the function of clothing to

self-esteem. She theorized that it is characteristic of

an individual to hold himself in good esteem and to aspire

4

toward higher levels of achievement. An individual, by

means of dress, inadvertantly conveys to others his self-

attitudes and permits others to estimate the degree to

which he holds himself in good esteem.

Many theories are reported in the literature with

self-concept as a major component. Sproles (1979) wrote

that psychological feelings of self-worth can be enhanced

by the individualistic use of dress. Clothing and self-

esteem were found to be positively related in some research

studies (Dickey, 1967; Takahashi and Newton, 1962; Humphrey,

Klaasen and Creekmore, 1971). However, Lipka (1977) found

no significant relationship between self-esteem and

clothing interest or self-esteem and clothing expenditures.

Data which supported the relationship of self-esteem

to clothing and occupation for adults were developed in an

empirical study by Form and Stone (1955) which indicated

that appearance of self was important to men who held

"white-collar" jobs but not to "blue-collar" workers. They

also reported that men thought clothing could be used as a

tool for advancement.

Thus, clothing has been assumed to have a symbolic

image determined not only by physical characteristics but

by personality characteristics as well. The clothing-

image interacts with the individual's self-concept and

results in self-image/clothing-image congruity. Congruity

between actual self-image and product-image has been called

5

self-congruity and between ideal self-concept and product-

image, ideal-congruity (Sirgy, 1982b).

The intention of this study was to develop a model

using the concepts of ideal self-image, actual self-image

and clothing image to predict the clothing women wear to

work. A second purpose was to determine if there was a

significant relationship between career anchorage position

or achievement motivation and self-image congruity.

The findings from this study could lead to better

understanding of human clothing behavior as it relates to

the theories of self-image/clothing-image congruity and to

achievement motivation in the occupational world. As-

suming that there is a relationship between these two

concepts, retailers could use achievement motivation to

predict clothing behavior and segment the market according-

ly.

Merchants may be assisted in their pursuit of the

working woman as a market segment. With empirical data to

determine which costume image is worn by working women in

different professions, manufacturers and retailers could

produce and sell clothing preferred by their customers,

rather than basing their decisions on subjective judgment.

By linking personality with clothing behavior, retailers

can design a marketing mix strategy which links a woman's

clothing norms to a market response. This could lead to

a differentiation strategy based on the message the

6

apparel items communicate: sexy, casual or business-like;

however, not all consumers perceive clothing in the same

way so the market could be further segmented by age, group,

type of position or life style and products promoted in

the appropriate media in a manner appealing to each seg-

ment.

Marketing practitioners in the area of new product

design could benefit from these data. If specific costume

images are shown to be congruent with self-images of

differing market segments, new designs could be created

and produced which meet the criteria of that image.

These data will add to the clothing literature in an

area where little research has been conducted with a sample

of employed adults. It might be helpful to those who

specialize in the relationships between socio-psychologi-

cal theories and consumer behavior. There is a dearth of

empirical data in the area of consumer self-concept

compared to attitude research. The reinforcement of a

theory and a model that applies symbolic or personality

related attributes to consumer behavior can be valuable

for the applied social science researcher.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Selected theories and research studies which have

contributed to specific concepts for this study were

examined. The major divisions of the review of the

literature are as follows: 1) working women, 2) self-

concept, 3) symbolism of clothing, 4) self-image/product-

image congruity, 5) achievement motivation, and 6) be-

havior related to clothing.

Working Women

The number of women entering the work force is a

manifestation of a profound social change. Eli Ginzberg,

chairman of the National Commission for Manpower Policy,

called it "the single most outstanding phenomenon of our

century" (Bartos, 1978). Women who have a regular income

from their employment have wants and needs in clothing and

other products and, therefore, are an important market

segment.

In January, 1980, 51.2 percent of all women 16 years

of age and over were labor force participants. The

greatest proportion was the 25 to 34 age group (26.6

percent), followed by the 35 to 44 year old (19.4 percent)

and those aged 20 to 24 (15.7 percent). Statistics

7

8

indicated that 59.2 percent of working women were married,

25.6 percent had never married, 9.2 percent were divorced

and 5.5 percent were widowed (Norwood, 1980).

Women are largely segregated into low-paying, female

dominated occupations. In 1979, they comprised over 90

percent of bank tellers, bookkeepers, secretaries,

typists, nurses, dressmakers and private household

service workers; and over 70 percent of all kindergarten

through grade 12 teachers, cashiers, office machine

operators, decorators and window dressers and retail

sales clerks were women. In contrast, only 12 percent

of the lawyers-judges, 11 percent of the physicians, 32

percent of college professors and 24 percent of manager

administrators were females (Norwood, 1980).

The largest proportion (44.6 percent) of women in

the labor force had four years of high school, followed

by 22.7 percent who had not graduated from high school.

The remainder were about equally divided between those

who had one to three years of college and those who had

at least a bachelors degree (Norwood, 1980).

The average gross weekly earnings in 1979 for females

were $263 for professional-technical employees, $183 for

clerical and $139 for service workers. Females, especially

blacks or other minorities, generally earned less than

males in the same type positions (Norwood, 1980).

9

The•Self-Concept

Both psychologists and sociologists have studied self-

concept as a theory of human behavior, but each discipline

views it with different emphasis and importance. Most

theoreticians appear to agree that self-concept stands

for the "totality of the individual's thoughts and

feelings having reference to himself as an object" (Rosen-

berg, 1979, p. 7).

Some theorists have suggested that human conduct can

be understood only from the viewpoint of the person doing

the behaving. If it is known how a person perceives and

interprets the world, his behavior can be predicted

because it follows directly from his perceptions. Thus,

each individual responds to his own personal reality

(Epstein, 1980). Cognitive theory views the self as an

understanding system processing information. The indivi-

dual, through his knowledge, transforms the objective

world into a subjective one (Sirgy, 1982b). Symbolic

interactionism treats the self as a function of inter-

personal interactions. The self is the individual as seen

by himself; it is interpreted as a nucleus around which

are organized his many wants and needs: this self is

interpreted as a product of social interaction (Kretch,

Crutchfield, and Ballachey, 1962).

10

Self-Concept Theories

William James (1890) noted that the boundaries of the

self are not defined by our physical bodies, but include

an extended self which refers to the sum total of all that

one can call his, such as material possessions, family

and reputation. He identified three constituents of the

self; the first, "the material me", refers to a person's

body, physical needs, clothing and physical possessions.

The "material me" receives its rewards in the form of

physical experiences and a feeling of pride of possessions.

The second self or "the social me" consists of the roles

an individual plays. As people have a need to be recog-

nized and admired by others, the actions exhibited in

these roles are influenced by how one believes others will

respond to the role. The third or "spiritual me" refers

to the individual's inner self, including a person's

thoughts and feelings. James suggested that individuals

have a sense of inner identity which is different from

their physical selves.

Allport (1955) considered the self to be an object

of knowledge. He believed the word self had so many con-

fusing meanings he called it proprium which consists of

all that is central in the personality and which the

individual regards as intimately his own. He divided the

proprium into several attributes: 1) bodily sense, or the

awareness of sensations from the body; 2) self-identity,

11

defined as an individual's awareness that he is a distinct

being, similar to, yet different from others; 3) ego-

enhancement, related to the individual's striving for

self-esteem; 4) ego-extension, related to James' idea of

an extended self; 5) rational process, the cognitive. system

that an individual employs to make sense out of the world

and synthesize inner needs with outer reality; 6) self-

image, the individual's concepts about his abilities,

status, roles and aspirations; and 7) propriate striving,

which includes a person's long term goals, the tendency

for motives to persist in the face of obstacles which

contribute to uniting the personality and to maintaining

an orientation toward the future. From this perspective

a person's behavior is controlled by his perception of

the future as well as memories of the past (Epstein, 1980).

Sociologists included recognition of the self-concept

as being influenced by the role society plays in one's

views about himself. The self was defined by Cooley

(1902) as everything the individual designates as his

own and which he refers to as "I", "me" and "myself". He

regarded the idea formed of the self as the imagination

of our appearance to the other person; the imagination of

his judgment of that appearance; and some sort of feeling,

such as pride or mortification. This awareness of self,

which he believed to be a direct consequence of independent

judgments, is influenced by the concern one has over how

others regard him.

12

Mead (1934) believed that self-concept can develop

only in a social group because others play a significant

part in the development of the self. The development

of the self is facilitated by attempting to become aware

of one's own reactions in order to predict how others

will behave in similar circumstances. In imagining how

others will respond, a person learns to view himself as

a social object. Thus, there are as many selves as there

are views of the roles of different groups of people.

Sullivan (1953) believed that a few "significant

others" exert a strong impression on the development of

self in early childhood and that the greatest influence

was the mother figure. As a child becomes an adult, the

desire to please peers, bosses and associates continues

to grow; thus, the self-system develops out of the desire

of the person to gain approval and avoid disapproval from

"significant others."

Some social scientists believe there is a tendency

for the self-system to seek internal consistency and

unity. Lecky's (1961) theory stated that an individual's

thoughts about himself and the world are organized into

a unified system which is the personality. He believed

the individual must preserve the unity of his conceptual

system. The person evaluates himself and this influences

all other evaluations. Experiences which the individual

regards as consistent with his evaluation of self are

13

quickly assimilated, while those that are inconsistent are

most often rejected to prevent anxiety. A major tenent

of Lecky's theory is that because people strive for con-

sistency, awareness of inconsistencies can motivate them

to re-examine their self-system which can lead to changes

in personality.

It was assumed by Snygg and Combs (1949) that every

person exists in a "phenomenal field" which defines

reality as the individual perceives it and divides the

self into two parts. First, there is the phenomenal self

which includes all that the individual experiences as

part of the self, the organization or pattern of all

those aspects which the person refers to as "I" or "me".

It organizes the individual's goals and needs which in-

fluence his perceptions and, therefore, his entire

phenomenal field. The second aspect, the self-concept,

includes only those perceptions about the self which are

most important to the individual.

Each individual exists as a center in a continually

changing world of experience (Rogers, 1951). Thus, the

self develops with physical and psychological growth and

with social interaction. The way in which the individual

reacts to and perceives his surroundings influences his

behavior. Therefore, the person will select those per-

ceptions which are consistent with his self-concept.

14

Epstein (1980) proposed an integrative cognitive

theory which maintains that all humans, in leading their

everyday lives, function like scientists because they are

continuously formulating and testing hypotheses at a

subconscious level. He postulated that individuals strive

to 1) assimilate the data of experience, 2) maintain a

favorable pleasure/pain balance and 3) optimize self-

esteem. Thus, a person will compromise in conflict

situations in order to reach a state of equilibrium.

A symbolic interactionist theory of the self has

been defined as the "individual as perceived by that

individual in a socially determined frame of reference"

(Newcomb, 1950, p. 38). Self-perceptions are important

because they may be used as resources and values. There-

fore, situations are perceived and evaluated so that

appropriate actions may be taken and the self can be

preserved and enhanced.

The concept of situational self-image includes a

behavioral component derived from the desire to complete

one's plans, and acknowledges that consumers have many

self-concepts. It also concedes that the consumption of

one brand or product may be highly congruent with self-

image in one situation and not at all congruent with it

in another situation (Sirgy, 1982b).

Schenk and Holman (1980) proposed a situational

self-image theory based on symbolic interactionism when

15

the former was defined as the meaning of self which the

individual wished others to have. It includes attitudes,

perceptions and feelings a person wants others to associate

with him. The choice of which self to express in a

particular situation is influenced by the characteristics

of the social setting. Once an individual decides which

image he wishes to express he does so and a way to do

this is by the use of products.

These theoretical concepts provide a foundation for

studying and understanding some aspects of human behavior.

A person's near environment is seen in ways acceptable to

self-image even if perceptual.distortion of one's sur-

roundings is necessary to make it consistent with self-

needs. Self-concept plays a vital role in motivation by

organizing the wants and goals of the individual (Munson

and Spivey, 1980). The urge to preserve a relatively

stable, somewhat flattering, and increasingly more satis-

fying self-image is the driving and organizing force

behind a large share of human activity (Douglas, Field and

Tarpey, 1967). Some important goals emerge which enhance

and defend the self (Kretch, Crutchfield and Ballachey,

1962). Grubb and Grathwohl (1967) observed that the more

valued one's self, the more organized and consistent one's

behavior. In 1963, Hayakawa noted that self-concept is

the fundamental determinant of all behavior. It was

16

suggested by Douglas, Field and Tarpey (1967) that self-

image is man's most valuable possession and is the key to

behavior.

Symbolism of Clothing

A theory of consumer behavior based on self-theory

and symbolism was developed by Grubb and Grathwohl (1967)

which stressed the role of the image an individual has

of himself as a motivator of human behavior in the market-

place. Because self-concept is of central importance to

the individual, he will direct his behavior to maintain

and enhance it. They also theorized that self-concept

is formed in an interaction process between the individual

and others and that the individual will strive for self-

enhancement in the interaction process which is affected

by the tools he uses and his significant references. By

using goods as symbols or tools the person communicates

meaning about himself to his references which causes a

desired response and has an impact on the interaction pro-

cess, thus reinforcing the self-concept. The products

are assumed to have a symbolic image determined not only

by physical characteristics but with personality charac-

teristics as well.

Clothing has been used as a symbol for so long its

true significance is not known. One of the early writers

to declare that clothing did more than protect the body

was Veblen (1953, originally published 1899). His theory

17

of fashion consumption focused on the social status of

clothing worn by women of the times and symbolized some

of the core values of society.

Basing their research on the societal issue, Barber

and Lobel (1952) stated that clothing has at least three

functions: utilitarian, aesthetic and symbolic of the

wearer's social roles. Magazines from the period were

classified by readership into categories representing

different social strata. Fashions depicted in the maga-

zines were deemed appropriate for the social group who

read that particular publication. Each social class wore

garments symbolic of its position and found differences

from the accepted norm distasteful.

The symbols by which group members recognize one

another, using clothing as a classificatory device, were

studied by Hoult (1954). He theorized that differences

in judgment of personal characteristics were related to

clothing and altered photographs so that the same head

appeared on differently clothed bodies. The photographs

were then shown to respondents who rated them on various

personality characteristics. The data revealed that

the differences in rating the photographs of unknown

persons was related to the difference in clothing.

A Clothing Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was deve-

loped by Rosencranz (1960) to investigate the importance

of clothing as symbols in structuring perceptions of others.

18

She assessed the degree of clothing awareness to themes in

social interactions. Eighty-two women responded to seven

drawings designed to depict incongruities between clothing

and sex, clothing and age, and clothing and social status.

A higher clothing awareness score was significantly

related to higher socio-economic status, higher education

level, memberships in more organizations, higher verbal

intelligence and husband in white-collar occupation.

Findings supported the premise of symbolic interaction

theory that communication is enhanced through the use of

symbols and that clothing is a nonverbal symbol when

persons perceive each other for the first time.

Hamid (1969) theorized that the effects of clothes

in impression formation and the perception of others by

the clothes worn was a function of the sex of the perceiver,

the sex of the perceived person or an interaction of the

two. Photographs of male and female adolescents wearing

high school uniforms, casual clothes, working clothes and

evening wear were rated for eight different impressions

(pleasant-unpleasant, interesting-dull, relaxed-tense,

active-passive, etc.) by 30 male and 30 female student

volunteers. Data analysis showed significant main effects

for the stimulus person's sex and dress. The effect of

clothing was evident from the ratings of low when the

stimulus person wore a high school uniform, and high when

casual or evening clothes were worn. This tendency was

19

most evident when males rated females. Hamid concluded

that dress effects were not independent of sex stereo-

types, which substantiated the view that dress is one of

the most salient cues in sex stereotyping.

Employers' perceptions of specific types of garment

styles worn by women professionals when working were in-

vestigated by Dillon (1980). The theoretical framework

was based on social behavior and the inferences made from

it, especially in relation to clothing worn by women to

work. Interviews were conducted with male and female

employers, at 15 randomly selected companies, who sorted

a set of 36 garment photos. Their selections were sub-

mitted to multidimensional scaling and results indicated

that three interpretable dimensions~were obtained. In

hierarchal order, they were: 1) formal, tailored outfits

versus less formal outfits, 2) dresses versus coordinated

outfits and 3) more rather than fewer layers of bodice

covering. These areas represented the factors designated

by the respondents as the appropriate type of dress for

women who were corporate professionals. No significant

differences occurred between the responses of men and

women except that more males than females considered

formal apparel appropriate for female dress.

Self-Image/Product-Image Congruity

Marketing scholars began writing about the relation-

ship between brands, products and stores as symbols and

20

the interaction of the symbols with consumer's perceptions

and personalities in the mid-1950 1 s (Gardner and Levy,

1955; Levy, 1959; Newman, 1957). The conceptual base for

these ideas was found in the philosophies of Carl Rogers,

William James and the symbolic interactionists, and has

been expanded into self-image/product-image congruity

theory which states that consumers prefer products with

images that are congruent with their self-concept.

Grubb and Grathwohl's (1967) self-concept theory

indicated that the consumer's different self-perceptions

are associated with varying patterns of consumer behavior.

Three postulates of their theory follow: 1) self-concept

is of value to the individual, and behavior will be

directed toward the protection and enhancement of the self-

concept; 2) the purchase, display and use of goods com-

municates symbolic meaning to the individual himself and

to others, thus affecting the self-concept; and 3) the

consuming behavior of an individual will be directed

toward the enhancement of his self-concept through the

consumption of goods as symbols.

It was stated by Horn (1968) that clothing is a

significant force in the enhancement of the self and, when

used positively, contributes to one's feelings of self-

acceptance, self-respect and self-esteem; therefore, it

is an expression of personality and of the self. The

concept a person has of himself as possessing certain

21

characteristics is an important determiner of his behavior

or of the roles which he assumes (Ryan, 1966). Thus,

clothing is an intimate part of the individual, it plays

a part in the presentation of the person to others and

it has intrapersonal meanings.

Sirgy (1982a) developed a self-image/product-image

congruity theory which stated that product cues involving

images, such as feminine apparel, usually activate a

self-schema involving the same images. The result is a

linkage between the self-concept of an individual and the

product image. Self-image beliefs are characterized by

the degree of belief strength connecting the self-concept

with a particular self-image level and the value intensity

associated with the self-image level~ Self-esteem and

self-consistency motives are mediating factors which in-

fluence the purchase intention or behavior of the indivi-

dual. Persons are categorized by interactions of self-

image beliefs and product-image perceptions into four

congruity conditions. Positive congruity determines the

strongest level of motivation followed by positive self-

incongruity, negative self-congruity and negative self-

incongruity.

Birdwell (1968) used the images of self as the central

concept of a study to demonstrate that a person's image

of himself was projected into his choice of products to be

measured. Thus, one's self-image would be more congruent

22

with the image of the chosen brand than with those of

rejected brands. Birdwell found that 100 randomly

selected male automobile owners' self-image, measured on

a semantic differential, was closer to the image of his

own automobile than to the image of eight other brands.

Grubb and Hupp (1968) reasoned that consumers would

try to match self-image with the typical user of the brand.

Their theoretical concept was that from infancy onward

a person develops perceptions, attitudes, feelings and

evaluations of himself as an object which he classifies

as his self. The self-concept grows from the reactions of

parents, peers and significant others, and self-mainte-

nance and self-enhancement depend on the reactions of

these people. Thus, a person strives for positive

reaction from his significant references, and products

will become symbolic tools for goal accomplishment. Using

a Likert-type scale with a list of adjectives, the sample

compared 36 Pontiac GTO and 45 Volkswagen owners' images

of themselves with their images of typical owners of these

brands. The results indicated that consumers do match

self-image with the typical user of a specific automobile.

The study by Grubb and Hupp was replicated by Grubb

and Stern (1971) to test for further congruence between

consumers' self-concepts, brand-images and their percep-

tions of stereotyped user images of Volkswagens and

Mustangs. They also tested the relationship of a third

23

variable, significant others, to the association of self-

theory and consuming behavior. The data, obtained from

student and staff owners of two brands of automobiles at

Portland State University, showed that the roles of the

stereotyped generalized user and the consumer's signifi-

cant others were related to the interaction process and

to the consumption of goods. Therefore, the theory that

a consumer's self-perception is influenced by significant

others was supported.

Self-theory and symbolism were studied by Grubb (1965)

who based his premise upon Goffman's (1959) supposition

that products as symbols do not enhance a person in a

vacuum. Symbols are affected by the individual's environ-

mental setting and "personal attire" which become tools

or a means for goal accomplishment in the interaction

process. A questionnaire, including a self-concept pro-

file and a brand-profile, was administered to 336 male

students at the University of Washington. The product

tested was beer; drinkers viewed themselves as more

confident, socially extroverted, forward, sophisticated,

temperamental and less stable than their non-beer drinking

counterparts.

A theoretical issue in image congruency research

concerning the appropriate definition of self-image was

raised by Munson and Spivey (1980) who questioned which

definition of self the consumer uses to make brand or

24

product decisions. Several researchers have attempted to

answer this question by distinguishing between actual-

self and ideal-self (Sirgy, 1982a; Schewe and Dillon,

1978; Belch and Landon, 1977; Munson, 1974; Dornoff and

Tatham, 1972; Delozier and Tillman, 1972; Delozier, 1971;

Dolich, 1969; Lamone, 1966). Dolich (1969) used both

actual- and ideal-self to investigate the concepts of

products consumed publicly (beer, cigarettes) contrasted

with those consumed privately (bar soap, toothpaste).

Respondents to a semantic differential were 200 students

and the data indicated no significant differences in

congruence scores for most preferred brands of products

consumed privately and pubicly or between actual-self and

ideal-self images for females. However, the differences

for males were significant between actual-self and ideal-

self image congruence for brands least preferred and those

most preferred.

Martin and Bellizzi (1982) replicated and extended

Dolich's findings (1969) between socially and privately

consumed product categories and congruity with self-image,

and hypothesized that self-congruity with least preferred

and most preferred brands was not equal. Data drawn from

a sample of 108 upper level college students supported

the hypotheses that 1) preferred brand images were closer

to the self-image than least preferred brands, and

25

2) privately and socially consumed brands are significantly

different.

Gibbins (1969) followed the thinking of Dolich (1969)

in differentiating ideal and actual self-images but, in

measuring product image, asked high school girls for

images of typical users of new clothing costumes. The

responses were measured on a semantic differential scale

and by a questionnaire asking specific questions about

various attributes of the persons who would be likely to

wear the outfits selected for the study. The impression

created by the liked costumes was seen as much nearer

the impression of the ideal-self than the disliked clothes.

However, both likers and dislikers differed in actual and

ideal self-image and in their judgments of the dresses.

Gibbins and Gwyn (1975) theorized that clothes were

a form of communication whose message describes the wearer,

and assumed that the garments actually worn were a com-

promise between what the wearer saw herself to be and what

she would like to be. The messages carried by fashionable

and unfashionable clothes were investigated by having

female college students judge the wearer of ten un-

fashionable and ten fashionable outfits. The theory pre-

dicted that, for potential adopters of a fashion, the

ideal self-image would be nearer the impression conveyed

by fashionable clothes than the actual self-image, and

that women who were regarded as fashionable differ from

26

unfashionable women in their perceptions of themselves.

Data supported the hypothesis. Thus it is apparent that

fashion change for some individuals occurs for one of two

reasons: with the general adoption of a style, its

message changes, or the average aspirations or ideal

self-images of a woman change.

Boles, Dickey and Flynn (1983) updated the study

conducted by Gibbins and Gwynn (1975) to examine whether

fashionable clothes communicate a message about a person

which is different from unfashionable clothes, and

whether ideal self-image or actual self-image of fashion-

able individuals is nearer the impression conveyed by

fashionable clothes. Two groups of students from three

universities participated in the study; one group was

labeled unselected subjects and the second was composed

of individuals nominated by the unselected subjects as

females they regarded as fashionable or unfashionable.

Respondents reacted to words which described images of

costumes and to those same words in regard to actual

self-image and ideal self-image on a semantic differential.

The findings indicated that the ideal self-image was closer

to the image conveyed by fashionable clothes than to

actual self-image on some attributes. Thus, the way a

woman perceives herself in regard to clothing is impor-

tant to her wearing a costume she believes to be fashion-

able or unfashionable.

27

Sirgy (1980) hypothesized that product preference is

primarily influenced by ideal or ideal-social-congruity

and not by self or self-congruity, and that purchase

intention is related to ideal or ideal-social-congruity

as well as self or social-congruity. These hypotheses

were based on self-enhancement and self-consistency

motivation theories. Data were collected from 124 female

students who rated Playgirl and Glamour magazines and

MGB and VW Rabbit automobiles. Results showed that ideal-

congruity was a better predictor than self-congruity of

product preference in regard to the automobiles. However,

with Playgirl and Glamour both ideal-congruity and self-

congruity were found equally predictive of product pre-

ference. The postulate that purchase intention is a

function of both ideal-congruity and self-congruity was

supported with respect to the MGB and Glamour, but not in

relation to Playgirl and VW Rabbit.

Munson and Spivey (1980) used a semantic differential

scale to investigate other approaches to self-measurement.

The first was to measure "expressive self" or "looking

glass self 11 and the second was "product expressive self"

and its relation to product preference. Automobiles and

tennis rackets were evaluated by 69 women and 141 men

whose occupations ranged from skilled manual workers to

executives. Results showed that people evaluated various

self-constructs differently, but the differences can not

28

be generalized to all product classes because evaluations

are dependent upon the symbolism and conspicuousness of

the product.

A concept of self-image similar to the looking glass

self of Munson and Spivey was explored by Turner (1980).

Situational self-image was defined as the way an indivi-

dual would like others to perceive him in a particular

social situation. Five social situations on beer drinking

were constructed and the respondents were asked to de-

scribe an image of self in each. The image of the typical

user of each brand and his actual self-image were measured

using a semantic differential. The analysis supported the

hypothesis that situational self-image/brand-image con-

gruence would predict the preference order of beer brands

better than actual self-image/brand-image congruence.

Thus, it has been noted that the consumer behavior

literature has provided many studies of the phenomenon of

products serving as a means by which consumers express

something about themselves. The more personalizing and

conspicuous the product, the greater the symbolic meaning

for the individual (Munson and Spivey, 1980; Belk, 1978;

Robertson, 1970; Bourne, 1968; Goffman, 1959). Further-

more a product such as clothing can serve as a prop to

aid in com.~unication of self-image (Holman, 1980; Gibbins

and Gwyn, 1975; Hamid, 1969; Veblen, 1953; Barr, 1934;

Hurlock, 1929; Dearborn, 1918; Carlyle, 1893).

29

Achievement Motivation

Several trends in achievement motivation research have

been identified. One of these involves the need for

achievement which includes the incentive to approach suc-

cess, the drive to avoid failure and the motive to avoid

success. Another aspect involves the attainment value

comprised of the need for personal and social achievement.

Lastly, the achievement motive is related to specific

settings, such as the organizational or occupational level

of aspiration (Sirgy, 1981).

Theories of Achievement Motivation and Behavior

Human motivation research and theory can be traced

from the development and validation of then Achievement

(need for achievement) measure and to the test anxiety

measure of the motive to avoid failure which resulted

from the work begun by Kurt Lewin (1936). Man was viewed

as the center of a perceptual life space or behavioral

field filled with items and conditions with varying

positive and negative valences or desirabilities. Each

person can be thought of as moving through his life space

in a manner that provides satisfactions for a number of

needs.

The initial theoretical analysis of behavior using

expectancy X value theory of action was started by Lewin,

Dembo, Festinger and Sears (1944) in their valence theory

of level of aspiration. It stated that the expectancy

30

of success is the only situational variable that can in-

fluence the strength of the relationship between achieve-

ment related motives and achievement oriented behavior,

holding extrinsic sources of motivation constant. This

theory was expanded by Atkinson (1957) to include both

relatively stable individual differences in personality

and a more precise statement of the inverse relationship

between expectancy and value found for achievement

oriented activity (Raynor and Entin, 1982).

The most widely known theory of achievement moti-

vation was initially proposed by McClelland, Atkinson,

Clark and Lowell (1953) who conceptualized it as a

relatively stable "disposition to strive for success in

any situation where standards of excellence are applic-

able. McClelland et al. theorized that individuals high

on motive strength may evaluate their performance in

reference to others, to their past experiences or on the

absolute standards of the task.

The theory of achievement motivation as developed

by Atkinson (1964) included individual differences in

achievement needs among the determinants of behavior. The

theory specified that achievement related behavior was

the result of a conflict between hope of success and fear

of failure. Hope of success corresponded to the original

achievement motive; fear of failure was operationally

defined as test anxiety. In a particular situation, the

31

aroused motivation was thought to be a function of expec-

tancy of success or failure as well as the relative

strength of hope of success and fear of failure. The

principal behavioral indicators of aroused motivation are

achievement effort and level of aspiration.

A measure developed by Mehrabian (1968) to determine

achieving tendency was based on Atkinson's (1964) model

of resultant achievement motivation. On Mehrabian's

scales, agreement or disagreement with an item can be

indicative of a behavioral aspiration which differentiates

high versus low achievers. For example, high achievers

have realistic aspiration levels and prefer intermediate

risk situations, whereas low achievers have relatively

low or high aspiration levels and prefer relatively low

or high risk situations.

Achievement Motivation in the Occupational Setting

Achievement motivation can be narrowed to predict

achievement behavior in specific situations. One of these

is the occupational setting.

Early research with college alumni in the fields of

engineering and science showed that occupational values

were relatively similar among males and females with

comparable education (Perrucci, 1968). Ninety-four

percent of both male and female graduate students in the

sample believed the opportunity to use one's skills and

32

abilities in challenging work was important. When the

level of education of the respondents was controlled, the

data indicated that "people versus things" orientation

(often attributed to females rather than males (Bernard,

1964]) was more highly correlated with education than sex.

Women with master's and Ph.D. degrees were more likely than

other women to endorse positive values concerning col-

leagues and scientific knowledge. Reinforcing the idea

that it is education and occupational setting rather than

sex which affects job values and preferences, Perrucci

also noted that women with advanced degrees might be ex-

pected to value different characteristics than lesser

educated women.

Kaufman and Fetters (1980) investigated whether women

and men differed significantly in their subjective esti-

mates that their efforts would result in good job per-

formance and in their estimates that good job performance

and efforts would be rewarded. Their research was based

on a theory which suggested that work commitment is as much

a by-product of the complex and on-going interplay between

the individual and his perceptions and expectancies within

the work environment as it is with gender related traits

and goals acquired early in life. The data collected from

144 male and 64 female accountants showed that sexual

status did not seem to have any significant effect because

both sexes valued similar aspects of their jobs.

33

At least two competing sets of assumptions about orien-

tations to occupational mobility in stratified employment

systems have appeared in the literature. The unlimited

success model posits that individuals are oriented to

career-long occupational advancement; their goal is to

reach a position in or near the peak of an occupational

structure and self-esteem is lost if the goal is not

reached (Lipset and Bendix, 1959; Lipset and Zetterberg,

1956; Parsons, 1954). In contrast, the limited success

model views individuals as satisfied to either maintain

their positions or to make modest progress within an

occupational structure, with no loss of self-esteem if

careers terminate below high-level positions (Hughes,

1949; Mills, 1956).

Tausky and Dubin (1965) investigated the relationship

between the two theories to see if they were in agreement

rather than competing, based on the fact that both incor-

porate the same motivational mechanism. A Career Orien-

tations Anchorage Scale (COAS) was constructed and

administered to 306 male middle-level managers in industry.

Their career anchorages were measured on a six item,

Guttman type scale and included various motivational

themes; each was designed to elicit the respondent's

choice between looking up to top positions, or looking

backward to a career starting point. The scaling of the

COAS responses indicated three categories: upwardly

34

anchored, downwardly anchored and ambivalently anchored.

The data revealed that the ambition syndrome included dis-

satisfaction with not getting to the top, concern about

dress and an interest in current information. Among lower

level managers, men who started work in middle white-

collar jobs were most likely to be upwardly anchored in

their career perspectives; those who started in blue-

collar positions were most often anchored in the starting

point in their career perspectives. The anchorage of

career perspectives is a mechanism common to both the

unlimited and limited success orientations toward occu-

pational mobility. Thus the two models of motivation were

complimentary.

Goldman (1978) replicated the Tausky and Dubin (1965)

study with a sample of 506 male middle-level managers in

industry. He found that only a minority of the sample

was committed to a career perspective anchored on organi-

zational peaks. The largest percentage was either ambi-

valent or downwardly anchored, viewing a career in terms

of movement from an occupational starting point. The

upwardly mobile respondents were dissatisfied if higher

levels were not reached and they spent more money on

business suits. Individuals who started at lower positions

and advanced to higher levels were found to be downwardly

anchored. Goldman concluded that successful career mobility

does not necessarily reinforce the desire for upward move-

35

ment especially among those who start very low on the

occupational scale. There was no marked increase in up-

ward career anchorages among men who started in higher

occupational ranks or among those who had reached advanced

management positions compared to managers who had modest

occupational starting points. The managers above blue-

collar and lower white-collar first job level dominated

in showing an ambivalent career anchorage.

Behavior Related to Clothing

Many views have been expressed concerning the function

of clothing, varying from the expression of modesty through

an indication of membership in an organization to indivi-

dual idiosyncrasy. Many functi.pns can be seen as special

cases of one general phenomenon: clothes act as a medium

of connnunication and the different functions are simply

messages which can be sent by means of clothes (Gibbins,

1969). Goffman (1959) emphasized clothing and appearance

as an expression of the self by managing one's impression

on others. The importance of appearance in social inter-

action as a means of identifying one another was stressed

by Stone (1962). It was pointed out by Rudofsky that the

body proper is believed to be incomplete without apparel:

clothing is "the external shell that prompts a person to

think of his real self" (1947, p. 19).

36

Recognition of the role of clothing as an indicator

of business success is not a new concept. Dearborn (1918)

reported his explorations of the theory that clothing can

be indicative of a successful individual. Statements

obtained from 24 men and women psychology students at

Harvard indicated they believed clothing was of value for

impressing others with one's worth, adding to self con-

fidence and leading to job promotion.

Vener theorized that clothing was important for men

in relation to occupational position, to upward mobility

and to social participation. ''The higher status indivi-

duals may have already attained their status goals, but

clothing as a symbol of success, or as a means to a greater

status goal, is of little consequence in the social life

of these people" (1953, p. 84).

Form and Stone investigated the relationship between

occupation and the social significance of clothing. Male

subjects were asked: "Do you think the way you dress on

the job makes any difference in your job opportunities or

advancement?" (1955, p. 84). Fifty-four percent of their

sample replied "yes". White-collar workers believed that

others tended to judge their work performance and other

activities from the way they dressed. They also emphasized

that the first impressions others had of them were very

important, and that dress was crucial in establishing such

impressions. While some manual workers thought clothing

37

was important for promotion, they emphasized that the nature

of their work precluded using clothes in a manipulative

sense. References to the dirtiness of the job underscored

the restrictions upon the opportunities they had to use

clothing symbolically. Manual workers relied on cultural

rationalizations by stressing that promotion opportunities

were based more on performance and ability than dress.

Some of the following studies had samples comprised

of high school and college students and not working women.

However, some of the basic ideas transcend the age group

and may be pertinent to the study of adults.

Klaasen (1967) hypothesized that a positive relation-

ship existed between self-esteem and attitudes toward

clothing. The Brownfain Self-Rating Inventory and the

Importance of Clothing Scale were administered to high

school students: 251 boys and 270 girls. The findings

indicated that self-esteem was positively related to the

aesthetic concern for clothing and to the use of clothing

to seek special attention for both sexes; however, no

relationships were found between self-esteem and the use

of clothing to gain social approval, or to dress like

others.

Selected personality factors of the self-concept,

self-esteem and security-insecurity, in the interpretation

of costume and related clothing behaviors were investigated

by Dickey (1967). A questionnaire was completed by 276

38

junior and senior college women who checked a list of high

and low self-esteem words defining characteristics exhibited

by sketched clothed figures which differed only in the

lines of costume. Females with high self-esteem used high

self-esteem words and selected complicated costume designs;

whereas, women with low self-esteem used low self-esteem

words relative to the costume images and chose simple

costumes.

Takahashi and Newton (1962) studied the relationship

between an individual's self-concept and her clothing

conformity, indifference or nonconformity. They hypo-

thesized that individuals had the same view of clothing

as the people with whom they associated. The sample was

adolescent girls at a California high school whose responses

indicated significant relationships between the individual's

self-concept and her peer groups' concept of her clothing.

Research conducted by Humphrey, Klaasen and Creek-

more (1971) examined the correlation between stability of

self-concept, self-esteem and use of apparel among male

and female adolescents. They found that young women with

high self-esteem were concerned with presenting pleasing

appearances and were not afraid to draw attention to them-

selves through dress; they enjoyed experimenting with

different items of dress and with the selection and care

of clothing. Girls with unstable self-concepts were ob-

served to use time, money and energy carefully in clothing

39

selection. It was concluded that teen-age girls with high

self-esteem found clothing to be self expressive, while

those of lower self-esteem regarded apparel as something

to be carefully managed and to be conservative in style.

It was proposed by Lipka (1977) that women with

higher self-esteem would have a higher interest in clothing

and spend more money for it than those with lower self-

esteem. The sample in the study was members of the Knox-

ville, Tennessee Business and Professional Women's Club

and the Knoxville Chapter of the National Secretary's

Association. No significant relationships were found

between self-esteem and clothing interest or clothing

expenditures.

Cash and Comer (1982) surveyed a cross section of

employers across the country to determine the effects of

physical attractiveness on social cognition and behavior.

First, personnel managers were presented with photographs

of twelve women and asked to rate them as "manager" or

"nonmanager" and to give reasons for the ratings. For the

second part, "makeovers" were done on three women; their

hair was colored and styled, makeup applied and clothing

changed to reflect the personnel managers' judgments of

"managerial" and 11nonmanagerial 11 image. The females were

photographed before the changes were made and in two after

conditions, yielding three photos of each woman, "before",

"after managerial" and "after nonmanagerial." It was

40

concluded that if a woman looked attractive she probably

would be considered for a promotion. The personnel

managers indicated that a female manager should appear

confident, organized, in-charge, serious, intelligent and

career oriented. They also believed female managers should

be well groomed, in a conservative style which would not

require excessive maintenance; a man-tailored look would

be necessary in traditionally male-dominated institutions

such as banks and brokerage houses, but in less formal

companies classic feminine apparel would be acceptable;

high fashion could be an advantage in industries that

valued style and originality.

Self-concept theories which were reported in the

literature have proposed that self-image was the central

reference point for individuals and formed a nucleus for

all human activity. An individual will react to his en-

vironment to satisfy his needs and to maintain and enhance

himself because much of the augmenting of self is pro-

jected through the use of symbols. Clothing has been a

symbol recognized for many years as a means to manipulate

one's near environment to fulfill a need or to obtain a

goal.

Clothing researchers also have used self-concept as a

theoretical framework for their investigations but a

majority of the respondents were convenience samples of

high school or college students. Their findings have

41

indicated that self-esteem was related to an individual's

attitudes toward clothing and influenced his clothing

behavior (Klaasen, 1967; Dickey, 1967; Takahashi and

Newton, 1962). Others conducted research with adult sub-

jects in relation to self-image and clothing in an oc-

cupational setting and found that men believed apparel

could be used to gain a higher position in a firm (Form

and Stone, 1955). In contrast, Vener (1953) indicated

that once men had reached a high status, clothing was no

longer a symbol of success.

Observed differences in the clothing women wear to

work lead to the belief that such behavior is patterned

and not random, and could be related to the psychological

differences between individuals. It seems plausible,

therefore, that with the wealth of self-image/product-

image congruity research in the consumer behavior area and

with the importance that scientists have placed on self-

image, clothing should be studied in regard to congruency

and self-image. The clothing behavior of women in specific

situations, such as the work environment, also should be

investigated.

CHAPTER THREE

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Theoretical Framework

Two theories were combined for this research. One

pertained to self-image/clothing-image congruity and the

second to achievement motivation and contruity.

Self-Image/Clothing-Image Congruity

The first theory was developed by Sirgy (1982a) and

it concerned self-image/product-image congruity; it has a

self-concept construct which reflects the interrelationship

between the actual-self and the ideal-self components of

the self-concept with the product-image. Product cues

involving images usually activate a self-schema involving

the same images. Self-congruity refers to the extent with

which a product image matches a consumer's actual self-

image. Ideal-congruity refers to the extent with which

the product image matches a person's ideal self-image. The

results (Table 1) of the combination of the self-congruity

and the ideal-congruity occur as:

1. positive self-congruity (high self-congruity

and high ideal-congruity)

2. positive self-incongruity (low self-congruity

and high ideal-congruity)

42

Congruity Condition Positive Self-Congruity sen & ICu*

Positive Self-Incongruity SCL & ICU*

Negative Self-Congruity SCH & ICL*

Negative Self-Incongruity SCL & ICL *

*SC L low self-congruity,

*SC = high self-congruity, H *IC = low ideal-congruity, L

Table 1

Theory of Clothing Behavior Congruity in Relation to Self-Consistency and Self-Esteem Motivation

Theoretical Intervening Constructs

Self-Consistency Self.,-Esteem Motivation Motivation

Self-Consistency Self-Esteem Motivation Motivation (approach) (approach)

Self-Inconsistency Self-Esteem Motivation Motivation

(avoidance) (approach)

Self-Consistency Self-Abasement Motivation Motivation (approach) (avoidance)

Self-Inconsistency Self-Abasement Motivation Motivation

(avoidance) (avoidance)

high discrepancy between clothing-image and actual

low discrepancy between clothing-image and actual

high discrepancy between clothing-image and ideal

*ICU = high ideal-congruity, low discrepancy between clothing image and ideal

Observed Clothing Behavior Engage in Clothing Behavior

Conflict Clothing Behavior

Conflict Clothing Behavior

Avoidance Clothing Behavior

self-image self-image

self-image self-image

Source: Adapted from M. Joseph Sirgy, The Interrelationship between Self-Congruity and Ideal-Congruity in Predicting Purchase Motivation. Journal of Business Research (forthcoming).

.i:--l.,.J

44

3. negative self-congruity (high self-congruity

and low ideal-congruity) or

4. negative self-incongruity (low self-congruity

and low ideal-congruity).

An example of Sirgy's theory applied to female cloth-

ing behavior follows: a woman sees herself as being very

professional (actual self-image) and she likes herself

that way (ideal self-image). She perceives a garment as

looking professional (product-image). The result of the

relationship between the woman and the garment is positive

self-congruity (high self-congruity and high ideal-

congruity). Each congruity condition is conceived in a

similar manner.

An a~sumption of the theory is that different self-

image/product-image congruity states will influence an

individual's clothing behavior differently. Positive

self-congruity will determine the strongest level of

behavior toward clothing (for a specific item), followed

by positive self-incongruity or negative self-congruity and

negative self-incongruity. This relationship is explained

through the mediation of self-esteem and self-consistency

needs (Sirgy, 1982b).

Self-esteem theory predicts that the consumer will be

motivated to wear a positively valued garment to maintain

a positive image of herself (positive self-congruity) or

to enhance herself by approaching an ideal-image (positive

45

self-incongruity) (Table 1). The consumer will be motivated

to avoid wearing a negatively valued outfit to evade self

abasement (negative self-congruity and negative self-

incongruity). Self-consistency theory, on the other hand,

predicts that the consumer will be motivated to wear a

garment congruent with her self-image belief. Congruency

functions to maintain consistency between behavior and

self-image beliefs (positive and negative self-congruity

conditions) and to avoid dissonance generated from behavior

and self-image belief discrepancies (positive and negative

self-incongruity conditions). The resultant motivational

state about the garment is, therefore, the net effect of

the motivational state resulting from self-esteem and self-

consistency needs (Sirgy, 1982b).

Achievement Motivation and Congruity

In the theories that form the basis for most of the

achievement motivation research (Atkinson, 1957; McClelland,

Atkinson, Clark, Lowell, 1953) behavior is determined by

expectancies of success, level of aspiration and the belief

of personal responsibility for success or failure. Mc-

Clelland et al. (1953) stressed independence training as

an important aspect of achievement striving; females who

were encouraged to be independent did not have charac-

teristics usually attributed to women such as nonassertive,

less ambitious and less career oriented.

46

Researchers have indicated that people use clothing

as a means or tool to attain higher levels of achievement

or advancement in their career. White-collar workers

indicated they "dressed up" for hiring agents when they

applied for a job and they believed that manner of dress

affected a person's job opportunities (Form and Stone,

1955).

Self-concept related to clothing behavior was re-

searched by Humphrey et al. (1971) who found that girls

with high self-esteem were concerned with presenting

pleasing appearances and were self-expressive. Takahashi

and Newton (1962) reported significant relationships

between an individual's self-concept and her peer groups'

concept of clothing conformity.

Self-image was related to product symbolism and

achievement motivation by Dearborn (1918). He reported

that men and women college students believed clothing was

of value for impressing others with one's worth, adding

to self-confidence and could lead to job promotion. Thus,

self-image/clothing-image congruity can be related to

achievement motivation.

The achievement motivation theory was derived from

the work of Tausky and Dubin (1965) and Goldman (1978).

Their theory of career perspectives involved: 1) recog-

nition that one's occupational life history is part of a

career, and 2) establishment of a point of reference from

47

which present or future occupational positions may be

evaluated. The assumption, from the unlimited and limited

success models, that some individuals place the highest

value on top level positions and strive for them through-

out their occupational career while others value the occu-

pational progress already experienced allowed Tausky and

Dubin to establish three career anchorage positions. They

postulated that individuals who strive for the highest

peak in an organizational structure are upwardly anchored

in their career position; those who value promotions al-

ready received were classified as downwardly anchored, and

those who had no clear perspective of either reaching the

highest peak or being satisfied with progress already made

were labeled ambivalently anchored.

It is theorized that since importance has been placed

on clothing in the occupational setting and since clothing

has been related to the self-concept, that career anchorage

positions.can be determined by the apparel a person wears.

Individuals will strive to wear garments that enhance their

self-image and at the same time stress their occupational

striving.

The graphic representation of the combination of these

two theories in regard to female clothing behavior is

depicted in Figure 1. A congruity between actual self-

image and clothing-image will result in self-congruity;

whereas, a congruity between ideal self-image and clothing-

Actual Self-Image

Clothing Image

Self-Congruity

+ congruity Achievement 1------------------~~ - congruity Motivation + incongruity

Ideal Self-Image

Clothing Image

Ideal-Congruity

- incongruity

Figure 1

Self-Image/Clothing-Image Congruity and Achievement Motivation Model

Female Clothing Behavior

.i:--00

49

image will produce ideal-congruity. The combination of

self-congruity and ideal-congruity determine the four con-

gruity conditions predictive of female clothing behavior

for work. Figure 1 also indicates a relationship between

career anchorage motivations and the four congruity con-

ditions. That is, it is expected that women who

are achievement motivated will experience similar self-

image/clothing-image congruity states; and that it will be

different from women who are not achievement oriented

which, in turn, will influence their clothing behavior.

Similarly, women who are not achievement oriented will

experience similar self-image/clothing-image congruity

states which influence their clothing behavior.

Purposes

This study was designed to examine the significance of

self-image/clothing-image congruity on women's clothing

behavior for work. Also examined was the relationship

between achievement motivation (career anchorage positions)

and the congruity conditions for five costumes. Demo-

graphic variables were investigated for descriptive pur-

poses.

Operational Definitions

The following definitions were developed for use in

this study:

50

Self-concept: The totality of the woman's thoughts

and feelings with reference to herself as an object.

Actual self-image: The image of a woman as she really

perceives herself.

Ideal self-image: The image of a woman as she would

like to be.

Clothing-image: The stereotypic image a woman has of

clothing.

Clothing behavior: The clothing a woman repeatedly

wears to work over a period of time.

Self-consistency: The tendency for a woman to behave

in harmony with her view of herself.

Upwardly anchored: A woman who stresses the highest

status and position in a career (Tausky and Dubin,

1965).

Downwardly anchored: A woman who finds career satis-

faction in her mobility up from a starting point

(Tausky and Dubin, 1965).

Ambivalently anchored: A woman who lacks a clear

ponderance of either upward or downward alternatives

(Tausky and Dubin, 1965).

SC: Self-Congruity

IC: Ideal-Congruity

CIS: Clothing Image Scale

ASIS: Actual Self-Image Scale

51

ISIS: Ideal Self-Image Scale

CBS: Clothing Behavior Scale

ACHS: Achievement Motivation Scale

Assumptions

The study was undertaken based on the following as-

sumptions:

1. Clothing has symbolic meaning to all individuals.

2. A woman will be able to relate to several drawings

of a figure which differ only in the clothing

shown.

3. The abstraction of the actual-self and the ideal-

self images are meaningful concepts.

4. Self-image/clothing-image congruity is a measure-

able concept.

5. The patterns of response congruences between self-

congruity and ideal-congruity among a group of

women would be such that meaningful groups of

respondents would be obtained on the basis of

congruity scores.

6. Achievement motivation is a measurable concept.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

1. Generalizations can be made only to university,

faculty and staff, populations in the United

States.

52

2. The accuracy and validity of the study depend

upon the degree of sincerity and honesty of

the individuals in the study.

3. The saliency of the adjectives used in the

instrument may not be the same for all women.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated for this

study:

1. Costumes which induce positive congruity will

be worn more often than those costumes which

induce either positive incongruity or negative

congruity, followed by negative incongruity.

2. There will be a significant relationship be-

tween career anchorage position (achievement

motivation) and self-image/clothing-image

congruity for five costumes.

CHAPTER FOUR

METHODOLOGY

This research was designed to examine the relation-

ship between self-image/clothing-image congruity and

women's clothing behavior for work. Achievement motivation

was investigated in relation to self-image/clothing-image

congruity. Selected demographic variables were included

for descriptive purposes. The procedures used in the exe-

cution of the research are presented as follows: 1) the

research instrument, 2) the sample, 3) data collection and

4) statistical analysis of the data.

The Instrument

There were five sections of the questionnaire used to

collect data for this research. They were:

1. Clothing Congruity Measure

2. Clothing Behavior Measure

3. Career Orientation Anchorage Scale

4. Achievement Motivation Scale

5. Demographics

Clothing Congruity Measure

The Clothing Congruity Measure was divided into three

parts: Clothing Image Scale (CIS), Actual Self-Image

53

54

Scale (ASIS) and the Ideal Self-Image Scale (ISIS). The

CIS was created first because it was the foundation for

the other image scales but it was preceded by the ASIS

and ISIS in the questionnaire to reduce bias in responses

to the ASIS and ISIS.

Clothing-Image Scale (CIS). The CIS was developed by

selecting illustrations of 20 costumes from Fall, 1982,

Butterick and Simplicity pattern books. The outfits were

chosen because they represented several types and styles

of costumes, ranging from those usually not considered

appropriate for work to those which generally were. The

20 illustrations, which were four inches high, were mounted.

on 811 x 11" paper, four to a page. To focus attention

on the costume, the hairstyles and shoes were altered on

each illustration so they looked as nearly alike as pos-

sible. The faces were blank so no expression was visible.

The pages were photocopied so that all illustrations were

in black and white, but the design and shading of the

costumes were evident.

Fifteen women employed in various occupations in the

College of Human Resources at Virginia Polytechnic In-

stitute and State University were given the pages showing

the 20 illustrations. Beneath each costume was a blank

space where the respondents were to independently write

one word descriptions of each outfit. Frequency counts

of the responses were made to determine the words most

55

used. When eight or more of the respondents used the same

word to describe a garment it was accepted as the image

projected by that costume. Their answers indicated that

five of the original outfits had a specific image: femi-

nine, business-like, casual, sexy and collegiate.

These five outfits were accepted as the images for

the Clothing Congruity measure. An artist was commis-

sioned to make black and white line drawings of the five

costumes, controlling the pose, hem length, facial features

and hair style.

To determine reliability and internal consistency of

the measure, additional words were needed to describe

each of the five costumes. The original list of responses

was considered and those words which had received three or

more listings for an outfit were added as possible images.

This resulted in a 15 word scale, three words per garment,

which was used for all five costumes.

The total instrument was pretested with 20 women

employed in various occupations in Blacksburg, Virginia

who agreed to cooperate. The questionnaire was hand

delivered and picked up 24 hours later. Pearson cor-

relations calculated for responses to each of the variables

were used to determine the internal consistency of the

instrument. Since the majority were significant at p < .05,

the instrument appeared to be measuring what it was in-

tended to measure (Table 16, Appendix B). Pearson cor-

56

relations and alpha coefficients to determine reliability

were calculated for the three constructs measuring the

images of each outfit for the final respondents (Table 17,

Appendix B).

Actual Self-Image Scale (ASIS). The ASIS was a list

of the same 15 words used in the CIS, but the illustrations

were not used. Each respondent was asked to check from 1

(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) how she actually

saw herself in relation to each of the words in the scale

(Appendix A).

Example:

Do you see yourself as:

womanly

casual

1 2 3 4 5

The reliability of the ASIS was tested using pearson

correlations for the pretest sample (Table 16, Appendix

B). Reliability for the final respondents scores was

obtained by using pearson correlations and alpha coeffi-

cients for each of the three constructs measuring actual

self-image (Table 17, Appendix B).

Ideal Self-Image Scale (ISIS). The ISIS was similar

to the ASIS because it used the same 15 image words. How-

ever, each respondent was asked to indicate from 1

(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) her ideal self-

image in regard to each word (Appendix A).

57

Example:

Would you like to see yourself as: 1

womanly

casual

2 3 4

Reliability for the ISIS was determined as for the

ASIS. Internal consistency for the pretest sample is

shown in Table 16 (Appendix B). Alpha coefficients for

the final sample were: feminine .59, casual .74, col-

legiate .50, sexy .78, and business-like .75 (Table 17,

Appendix B) .

5

To derive the congruity conditions used in the model

and the hypotheses, three steps were followed. Two con-

gruence scores were calculated, the Self-Congruity (SC)

and the Ideal-Congruity (IC). The congruences between the

actual self-image and the image of each clothing outfit,

and between the ideal self-image and each clothing costume

were obtained by computing the absolute arithmetical dif-

ference, scale by scale. The absolute arithmetical model

has been used by several researchers and was found to be

predictive (Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1980, 1983; Martin and

Bellizzi, 1982). Thus, nomological validity of the model

has been established.

The first step was to develop a score for Self-

Congruity (SC) using the following formula:

C = ,. i=l ASiik I ] /n

58

where:

sck = Self Congruity Score for individual (k)

Ciik = Clothing Image ( i) of the individual (k)

ASiik = Actual Self-image ( i) of individual (k)

n = number of images ( i)

The second step was to calculate Ideal-Congruity (IC)

using the formula:

where:

= [L ISiik I ] ,n

ICk = Ideal-Congruity for individual (k)

Ciik = Clothing Image ( i) for individual (k)

ISiik = Ideal Self-Image ( i) for individual (k)

n = number of images ( i)

Scores on the SC and IC ranged from O (high or con-

gruity) to 4 (low or incongruity). These two scores were

categorized into the four congruity conditions, positive

congruity, positive incongruity, negative congruity, and

negative incongruity, thus establishing a matrix as shown

in Table 2. The IC determined whether the congruity state

was positive or negative, and the SC determined if the

condition was congruent or incongruent.

Clothing Behavior Scale (CBS)

The respondents were asked three questions about how

frequently they wore each of the five costumes to work on "'

a scale of 1 (not often) to 6 (very often). An individual's

59

Table 2

Matrix of Self-Congruity and Ideal-Congruity

SELF-CONGRUITY High Low

( eg. "O") ( eg. "4")

Positive Positive High Congruity Incongruity.

(eg. "0") SCH & ICH SCL & ICH

E-t H :::> p:: c., z 0 u

I ,..;i < Negative Negative J:;,::I Low A Congruity Incongruity H (eg. "4")

SCH & ICL SCL & ICL

60

responses to the questions pertaining to each outfit were

totaled and divided by three, yielding the CBS for each

costume for each individual (Appendix A). The internal

consistency of the CBS was determined by pearson cor-

relations for the pretest sample (Table 16, Appendix B).

Reliability was assessed for responses of the final sample

using Cronbach's alpha (1951). The alpha coefficients

for clothing behavior were: feminine behavior .95, busi-

ness-like behavior .95, casual behavior .95, sexy behavior

.89 and collegiate behavior .94 (Table 17, Appendix B).

Career Orientations Anchorage Scale (COAS)

The Tausky and Dubin (1965) COAS contained six situ-

ation statements to measure career orientation anchorages.

The items referred to various motivational themes; each

question was designed to elicit whether the respondent's

career aspirations were directed upward to top positions

or backward to a starting point. The scale originally had

been used with men only and it was adapted to be used with

women for this research.

The instrument was scored by classifying an individual

as downwardly anchored if she indicated none or only one

upwardly oriented response. Ambivalently anchored respon-

dents were those who gave two, three or four upwardly

oriented responses. Those who were upwardly anchored gave

five or six responses indicating a desire for top level

positions ( Tausky and Dubin, 1965) .

61

The COAS was validated with measures conceptually

related to it. The items included satisfaction with

middle management, behavioral indicators of striving and

measures of living style. The direction of the differences

for the categories was high scores for the upwardly

anchored and low scores for the downwardly anchored. This

direction was predicted on a priori grounds which led

Tausky and Dubin (1965) to believe the COAS measured the

respondents career anchorage. Goldman (1978) used the

same indicators and found that career orientation anchor-

ages were part of a set of attitudes and behaviors re-

flecting different degrees of interest in maximizing rank.

The validity of the scale was tested in this research

for the final sample by correlating it with the ACHS scale

of Mehrabian and Banks (1975). The criterion validity

between the six variables of the COAS and the total ACHS

was calculated. Also determined was the relationship be-

tween the total COAS scores and the total ACHS scores.

Pearson correlations were as follows:

COAS Item 1 .198 COAS Item 2 .124 COAS Item 3 -.012 COAS Item 4 .067 COAS Item 5 .008 COAS Item 6 .029 TOTAL COAS .101

62

The correlations were very low, thus is was apparent

the instruments were not measuring the same constructs.

The ACHS could not be used to validate the COAS.

Achievement Motivation Scale (ACHS)

The Mehrabian and Banks (1975) ACHS measure contained

80 items relating to achievement motivation. It was

structured so that several of the statements were positive

and several were negative. Some of the concepts measured

by this scale were attribution, perseverance, delay of

gratification, risk preference, task difficulty preference,

self-esteem, independence, avoidance of success, approach-

ing success/avoiding failure, need for information and

need for stimulation.

To score this scale the sum of each individual's

responses pertaining to the negative statements was sub-

tracted from the sum of the responses to the positive

items. The results indicated a person's achievement

motivation in relation to all other respondents in this

study.

A preliminary test was made of the ACHS with a class

of 18 female graduate students and faculty in the Depart-

ment of Clothing and Textiles at Virginia Polytechnic

Institute and State University. The purpose was to reduce

the number of items for the final instrument because the

total measure was very long. To determine the items to

use, Pearson correlations were calculated for the responses

63

to all the items with the total score for the ACHS. The

three items measuring the same construct with the highest

correlations were selected, retaining all 13 constructs of

the original measure in the final instrument. The result

was a 39 item ACHS measure which could be tested for

reliability.

Mehrabian (1968) correlated the achievement motivation

measure with the Thematic Apperception Test (r = .17,

p > .05); the Test Anxiety Questionnaire (r = -.11, p >

.05); the internal-external control scale (r = .41, p >

.01) and the Crowne and Marlowe Scale (r = .00). The data

provided some validation for the achievement scale. Sirgy

(1977) investigated the relationship of the ACHS with risk

preference, the Zeigarnik effect and attribution. Results

indicated that some support was evidenced for the construct

validity of the ACHS.

Mehrabian (1968) reported a reliability coefficient

of .72 for females in his study. For the present study the

reliability coefficients were .73 for the pretest sample

and .70 for the final sample.

Demographics

The demographic section asked the respondents for

personal information about employment, marital status,

income, and length and consistency of time in the labor

force. This information was used for descriptive purposes

64

and to determine if the sample was representative of the

population of working women (Appendix. A).

The Sample

The sample was drawn from women faculty and staff

(secretaries, clerical workers, receptionists, etc.) from

three land-grant universities, Michigan State University,

The Ohio State University and Virginia Polytechnic Insti-

tute and State University. These institutions were chosen

because each had diverse but similar educational programs.

They also had a variety of employment levels within the

system which was expected to yield respondents with dif-

ferent achievement goals who would exhibit various clothing

behaviors.

A mailing list was compiled of 65 faculty and 65 staff,

as listed by job title in each university's faculty and

staff directory. This yielded a total of 390 names. The

names selected for the mailing list were obtained by

counting the number of employees listed in each directory.

The total for each university was divided by 65 to deter-

mine the number of names between each subject to be

selected. A table of random numbers was used to obtain

two starting points in each directory, one for faculty

and one for staff. Each name which appeared at the

selected interval was added to the list. If a female

faculty or staff member was not at the interval point, the

65

nearest following name was chosen. Women from Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State University who had

participated in the pretest were omitted from the final

mailing list.

Data Collection

Data were collected during the last two weeks of

January and the first two weeks in February, 1983. The

questionnaire, a cover letter explaining the research and

a self-addressed envelope were mailed to the 390 women

selected from the three universities (Appendix A).

There were 232 returned questionnaires but five were

unusable'because of incomplete information or personal

situations of the respondents. Therefore, 227 women or

58% of the original mailing list became the sample for

this study.

Analysis of the Data

Data analyses were performed using the Statistical

Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Reliability of

the measures was assessed by using Cronbach's alpha (1951).

To test the first hypothesis, several statistical

steps were used. Compute statements were formulated to

derive SC and IC using the formulas on pages 57 and 58.

The scores were then divided at the cumulative frequency

nearest 50 percent.

66

The SPSS subprogram, MA.NOVA, was used to analyze the

data. Even though it is a multivariate analysis of

variance it will perform univariate linear estimation and

tests of hypotheses for any crossed design (SPSS, 1981).

The dependent variable was clothing behavior and the

independent variables were self-congruity and ideal-

congruity. The expectations from the analysis were

clothing behavior means that were different, statistically

significant main effects for self-congruity and ideal-

congruity and nonsignificant interaction effects. A

scattergram subprogram also was used to support the

analysis of variance and to compute the linear regression.

To test the second hypothesis, the COAS was scored

according to the directions given on page 60. Ideal-

congruity and self-congruity scores were linearly combined

for each individual and correlated with the total COAS.

To reinforce the findings, the ACHS scores were correlated

with the combined congruity scores. Correlations also were

calculated between self-congruity and COAS and ACHS, and

between ideal-congruity and COAS and ACHS.

CHAPTER FIVE

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of the study was to establish the relation-

ship between self-image/clothing-image congruity and

clothing behavior for work. A second purpose was to

determine if congruity was related to achievement moti-

vation. The main headings for the presentation of the

findings are as follows: 1) description of the sample,

2) findings concerning the hypotheses, and 3) discussion

of the findings.

Description of the Sample

The subjects were asked to complete questions which

indicated their employment history, family situation and

personal data. This information was used to determine

the representativeness of the sample.

Employment, Education and Income of Respondents

The sample of working women consisted of 48 percent

faculty and 52 percent staff members of three land-grant

universities (Table 3). Almost 42 percent of the re-

spondents were professors and nearly 41 percent were

secretaries and office administrators.

The largest percentage (26.5) was employed in the

college of Arts, Sciences and Humanities. Other colleges

67

68

Table 3

Employment, Education and Income of Respondents

Variable

Position Faculty Staff

Job Title Professor Secretary and Office Adm. Clerical Administration No Response

College Affiliation Arts, Sciences, Humanities Education Medical and Law Professions Engineering Home Economics Business and Adm. Science Agriculture Graduate School Not Applicable No Response

Level of Education Less than High School graduate High School graduate Attended college Graduate of 4 year college Advanced degree

Frequency Percent

109 48.0 118 52.0 227 100.0

94 41.5 92 40.5 13 5.7 12 5.3 16 7.0

227 100.0

60 26.5 17 7.5 18 7.9

5 2.2 16 7.0

8 3.5 13 5.7

5 2.2 48 21. 2 37 16.3

227 100.0

2 0.8 50 22.0 43 18.9 22 9.7

110 48.6 227 100.0

69

Table 3 (continued)

Variable Frequency Percent

Income less than $10,000 4 1.8 $10,000 - $14,999 64 28.2 $15,000 - $19,999 46 20.3 $20,000 - $24,999 33 14.5 $25,000 - $29,999 31 13.7 $30,000 - $34,999 23 10.1 $35,000 - $39,999 12 5.3 $40,000 and above 14 6.1

227 100.0

Employed in Present Position less than 6 months 13 5.7 6 months to 1 year 8 3.5 1 year to 5 years 99 43.6 5 years to 10 years 49 21.6 more than 10 years 58 25.6

227 100.0

70

were represented in the sample but each comprised less than

10 percent of the total.

The level of education for the respondents was higher

than the national average for working women (Norwood,

1980). Less than 1 percent of the subjects had not

graduated from high school (Table 3).

The respondents' income ranged from less than $10,000

to over $40,000 per year. The greatest proportion of

females reported salaries in the $10,000 to $14,999 range

(Table 3), which was higher than the national median of

$9,350 income for women in 1979 (Norwood, 1980).

The largest percentage of the respondents (43.6) had

been employed one to five years in their current position

and almost 26 percent for more than 10 years (Table 3).

It was reported in the national statistics that 32 per-

cent of working women had held their current job one year

or less while over 10 percent had worked on the same job

10 to 20 years (Norwood, 1980). The respondents in this

study had worked longer at the same position than the

national average.

Consistency and Number of Years Worked

When asked how long they had been in the labor force,

a range of 11 to 20 years was indicated by slightly over

34 percent of the women, followed by 24 percent who had

worked 6 to 10 years (Table 4). The current position was

71

Table 4

Duration, Consistency and Advancement Related to Labor Force Participation

Variable

Number of Years Worked 0 to 5 years 6 to 10 years 11 to 20 years 21 to 30 years 31 years to 41 years

First Job yes no

Stopped Out Because education married rear children pregnancy all of the above did not stop out

Number of Years Stopped Out less than 1 year 1 year to 2 years 2 years to 4 years 4 years to 6 years 6 years to 10 years more than 10 years not applicable

Returned to Work in a lower position in the same level position in a higher position not applicable

Frequency

52 55 78 23 19

U1

20 207 227

40 7

40 26 19 95

227

39 27 22

9 12 23 95

227

29 56 47 95

227

Percent

23.0 24.2 34.3 10.1

8.4 100.0

8.8 91. 2

100.0

17.6 3.1

17.6 11. 5

8.4 41.8

lOO.O

17.2 11. 9

9.7 4.0 5.3

10.1 41. 8

100.0

12.8 24.7 20.7 41.8

100.0

72

the first job for approximately 9 percent of the respon-

dents. Many of the women had left the labor force and

returned. Their reasons for stopping out were divided

equally between rearing children and education, followed

by marriage with the largest proportion of them out less

than one year. Of the women who had stopped out, nearly

25 percent returned to work in the same level position

while nearly 21 percent returned in a higher level posi-

tion.

Personal and Family Demographics

Almost half of the respondents were married (Table 5)

which was similar to the national statistics (Norwood,

1980). Almost 39 percent were aged 25 to 34, which cor-

responds to 26 percent of the total female population who

are working at this age (Norwood, 1980).

Nearly 86 percent of the respondents did not have

children (Table 5) which is considerably larger than the

national proportion with similar maternal responsibilities

(Norwood, 1980). Almost 92 percent of the sample was

Caucausian American compared to 84 percent of all working

women, nationally (Norwood, 1980).

These data indicated that women in the sample had

different occupations, ages, incomes and consistency of

time in the labor force within the academic setting. How-

ever, when compared to the total population of working

73

Table 5

Marital Status, Age, Number of Children and Cultural Affiliation of Respondents

Variable

Marital Status married single divorced widowed other

Age less than 25 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 and over

Preschool Children none 1 child 2 children 4 children

Children, K through 6th grade none 1 child 2 children

Children, 7th through 12th grade none 1 child 2 children 3 children

Frequency

113 66 35

9 4

227

6 88 55 45 31

2 227

195 28

3 1

227

195 26

6 ZIT

193 26

7 1

227

Percent

49.8 29.1 15.4

4.0 1. 7

lOO.O

2.6 38.8 24.2 19.8 13.7

0.9 100.0

85.9 12.3

1.3 0.5

100.0

85.9 11.5

2.6 100.0

85.0 11. 5

3.1 0.4

100.0

74

Table 5 (continued)

Variable Frequency Percent

Children in College none 195 85.9 1 child 18 7.9 2 children 9 4.0 3 children 4 1.8 4 children 1 0.4 m 100.0

Cultural Affiliation Caucasian American 208 91. 8 Hispanic American 1 0.4 Asian American 1 0.4 Black American 11 4.8 Other (non Americans) 6 2.6 m 100.0

75

women, these respondents had more education, larger in-

comes, fewer children and had been employed longer.

Findings Concerning the Hypotheses

In this section the results of the statistical

analysis are presented by the hypotheses. From these

results conclusions were drawn about the acceptance of

the hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1: Costumes which induce positive congruity will be worn more often than those which induce either positive incongruity or negative congruity, followed by negative incongruity.

To test this hypothesis a two-way analysis of variance

was used with self-congruity and ideal-congruity as the

independent variables. Clothing behavior was the de-

pendent variable.

Feminine Outfit 1. Self-congruity (SC) scores for the

feminine outfit ranged from Oto 2.667. These were divided

into high SC (0 to 1) and low SC (1.001 to 2.667). The

ideal-congruity (IC) scores were identical to the SC but

were divided into high IC (0 to .667) and low IC (.6671

to 2.667). The divisions were made by dividing at the

cumulative frequency nearest 50 percent.

Since the hypothesis was directional, an SC and IC

main effects and no SC x IC interaction effect were

expected. More specifically, it was anticipated that the

clothing _behavior means would be highest for positive

congruity (high SC & high IC), moderate for positive

76

incongruity (low SC & high IC) and negative congruity (high

SC & low IC) and lowest for negative incongruity (low SC &

low IC). The clothing behavior means for the feminine

outfit were 3.909 for the positive congruity cell, 4.083

in the positive incongruity cell, 3.058 was negative con-

gruity and 2.728 was negative incongruity (Table 6). Two

significant main effects were obtained: one for self-

congruity (p=.001) which accounted for 4 percent of the

variance and the other for ideal congruity (p=.000) or 7

percent of the variance.

There was no significant interaction effect between

ideal-congruity and self-congruity for the feminine image

(Figure 2). The positive incongruity cell showed a

larger mean than the positive congruity cell, although a

Scheffe test for differences between the means revealed

that no statistically significant differences existed

(Table 7). To further substantiate the hypothesis, a

scattergram analysis was conducted which indicated that

both self-congruity and ideal-congruity were significantly

related to clothing behavior (p < .01) and the linear

direction of the plots supported the hypothesis (Table 8).

The overall pattern of results with respect to the feminine

image appeared to be consistent with the first hypothesis.

Business-like Image Outfit 2. Self-congruity (SC)

scores for the business-like image ranged from Oto 2.667

and were divided into high SC (0 to .667) and low SC (.6671

Outfit l

Table 6

Feminine Image Clothing Behavior Categorized Into Congruity Conditions

SELF-CONGRUITY High

Posi•tive Congruity Positive .c: - 3.909 - 4.083 X = X =

Low

Incongruity

H ·n S.D. = 1.505 S.D. = 1.368 ::i:: n = 96 n = 16

c., z 0 u

I

Negative Congruity Negative Incongruity :3 - 3.058 - 2.728 H 0 X = X = ....:t S. D. = 1.625 S .D . = 1.584

n = 40 n = 75

Note: Main and Interaction Effects

F P. 2 - r self-congruity 10.949 .001 .043 ideal-congruity 17.761 .000 .070 self x ideal-congruity .953 .330 .003

.......

.......

4

3 0:: 0 H ::>

i:,::i p::i 2 c., z H ::i:: f-i 0 ,...:i c.)

1 ,

78

High

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 2

Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Feminine Image Clothing Behavior

High IC Low IC

Low

FEMININE IMAGE

BUSINESS-LIKE IMAGE

CASUAL IMAGE

SEXY IMAGE

COLLEGIATE IMAGE

*Statistically

Table 7

Scheffe F Values for Mean Differences

Positive congruity Positive incongruity Negative congruity

Positive congruity Positive incongruity Negative congruity

Positive congruity Positive incongruity Negative congruity

Positive congruity Positive incongruity Negative congruity

Positive congruity Positive incongruity Negative congruity

significant at p < .05

Positive incongruity

.180

3.034

1. 797

.032

7.987*

Negative congruity

10.125* 9.338*

10.596* 4.913

11. 240* .450

1.528 1.100

1.910 9.475*

Negative incongruity

29.217* 10.982*

1.516

30.426* 21. 637*

.499

25.334* 1.382

.573

3.958 1.156

.315

17.562* .552

10.426*

-...J \0

80

Table 8

Scattergram Correlations of Clothing Cehavior With Self-Congruity and Ideal-Congruity

n=227

Clothing Behavior

Feminine Image self-congruity ideal-congruity

Business-like Image self-congruity ideal-congruity

Casual Image self-congruity ideal-congruity

Sexy Image self-congruity ideal-congruity

Collegiate Image self-congruity ideal-congruity

**significant at p < .01 *significant at p < .05

r

-.263** -.375**

- . 363 1(*

- . 215*'~

-.301** - . 2961t*

-.129* -.113*

-.250** - . 232**

.069

.141

.132

.046

.091

.087

.016

.012

.062

.054

81

to 2.667). Ideal-congruity (IC) scores had the identical

range of the SC and were divided at the same point. Mean

clothing behavior scores were: 5.357 for positive con-

gruity, 4.934 for positive incongruity, 4.238 for negative

congruity and 4.016 for negative incongruity (Table 9).

There was a significant main effect for self-congruity

(p < .001) accounting for slightly over 11 percent of the

variance, but not for ideal-congruity (p = .102) or for

self-congruity x ideal-congruity interaction (p = .645).

When the Scheffe test was performed there was a significant

difference between the means of positive congruity and

negative incongruity which supports the direction of the

hypothesis (Table 7). As shown in Table 8, scattergram

data revealed significant relationships between clothing

behavior and self- and ideal-congruity (p <.01).

The business-like costume supported the hypothesis

as can be seen in Figure 3. The ideal-congruity lines

are almost parallel, indicating main effects going from

high to low, without interaction effects.

Casual Image Outfit 3. Casual image self-congruity

(SC) scores extended from Oto 3.667. SC scores were

classified as high SC (0 to 1) or low SC (1.001 to 3.667).

The ideal-congruity (IC) scores were the same as SC but

were divided into high IC ( 0 to . 66 7) and low IC (. 66 71

to 3.667). This resulted in clothing behavior cell means

(Table 10) of 3.870, positive congruity, 3.238 positive

Outfit 2

Table 9

Business-like Image Clothing Behavior Categorized Into Congruity Conditions

..c: bO

•rl ::r:

H :::> t!> z 0 u

I ...-l iJ A H 0

...-l

Note:

SELF-CONGRUITY High

Positive Congruity

x == 5.357 S.D. = 1.047 n = 41

Negative Congruity

x = 4.238 S.D. = 1. 327 n = 21

Main and Interaction effects

self-congruity ideal-congruity self x ideal-congruity

Low

Positive Incongruity

x = 4.934 S.D. = 1. 387 n = 82

Negative Incongruity

x = 4.016 S.D. = 1. 617 n = 83

F 29:-439

2.684 .212

.oto

.103

.645

r2 .1I5 .010 .000

O> (',.)

PG 0 H :>

µ::r i:Q

c.!) z H ::c: E-l 0 i-:l c..,

5

4

3

.2

·1

83

High

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 3

Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Business-like Image Clothing Behavior

Low

H;i..gh IC

Low IC

OutfH 3

Table 10

Casual Image Clothing Behavior Categorized Into Congruity Conditions

SELF-CONGRUITY

.c bO

·r-l ::r::

High

Positive Congruity

x = 3.870 S.D. = 1.574 n = 85

Negative Congruity

x = 2.902 S.D. = 1.696 n = 48

Note: Main and Interaction effects

self-congruity ideal-congruity self x ideal-congruity

Low

Positive Incongruity

x = 3.238 S.D. = 2.010 n = 14

Negative Incongruity

x = 2.683 S.D. = 1.684 n = 80

F 11:-296 11.121

.526

E. .001 .001 .469

2 r .045 .045 .002

85

incongruity, 2.902 negative congruity, and 2.683 negative

incongruity. Both main effects were significant (p = .001)

accounting for 4 percent of the variance each, but the

interaction was not significant (p = .469).

The casual image fulfilled the expectations of the

hypothesis and main effects as shown in Figure 4. On the

basis of the findings, the hypothesis can be supported for

outfit 3.

Sexy Image Outfit 4. The sexy image produced self-

congruity (SC) and ideal-congruity (IC) scores from 1 to

4 which was the total range of possible scores. The SC

scores were divided into high SC (0 to 2.333) and low SC

(2.3331 to 4). The IC scores were divided into high IC

(0 to 2.0) and low IC (2.001 to 4). Clothing behavior

means ranged from 1.289 for positive congruity to 1.131

for negative incongruity (Table 11). Neither main effects,

self-congruity (p = .133) and ideal congruity (p = .133),

nor the interaction effect (p = .568) were statistically

significant. Since the means were so low, the scattergram

(Table 8) was checked to see the direction of the plots.

Data revealed significant correlations (p < .05) did exist

and the plots were in the expected direction. This is

evidenced in Figure 5, where high IC and low IC lines are

almost parallel. Even though there was no significant

differences in the main effects for the sexy image, the

hypothesis can be supported because of the direction of

4

3 p:::: 0 H :> ;§ i::Q

c., 2 z H ::c: E--t 0 ....:l u

1

86

High

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 4

Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Casual Image Clothing Behavior

High IC

Low IC

Low

Outfit 4

>i E-t H

z 0 u

I

H

Table 11

Sexy Image Clothing Behavior Categorized Into Congruity Conditions

SELF-CONGRUITY

..c: bO ·r-1 ::r:

Positive Congruity

x = 1. 289 S.D. = .695 n = 92

Negative Congruity

x = 1.000 S.D. = .000 n == 6

Note: Main and Interaction effects

self-congruity ideal-congruity self x ideal-congruity

Low

Positive Incongruity

x = 1. 266 S.D. = .527 n = 25

Negative Incongruity

x = 1.131 S.D. ;::: .451 n = 104

F 2.270 2.291

.327

E .133 .133 .568

2 r .009 .010 .001

4

3 0 H :> ;§ i:Q

<:.!) 2 :z H ::c: E--t 0 ....:i u

1

88

High

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 5

Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Sexy Clothing Behavior

High IC Low IC

Low

89

the means. This costume had the lowest standard devia-

tions of all the costume images. Women apparently did

not see this costume as appropriate for work and did not

wear it to work as evidenced by the low clothing behavior

means.

Collegiate Image Outfit 5. Collegiate image self-

congruity (SC) scores ranged from Oto 4 and were divided

into high SC (0 to 2) and low SC (2.001 to 4). The ideal-

congruity (IC) scores extended from .333 to 4.0. This

was the only congruity condition which did not have

respondents with absolute congruity or 0. The IC scores

were divided as follows: high IC (.333 to 2) and low IC

(2.001 to 4). The collegiate image outfit did not meet

the expectations of the hypothesis. The largest mean was

in the negative congruity cell 3.757, followed by 3.125

for positive congruity, 2.288 negative congruity and 1.976

positive incongruity. The SC main effect was significant

(p < .001) accounting for 9 percent OF the variance, but

the main effect for IC was not (Table 12). Part of the

discrepancy might have been due to the division of the SC

and IC scores. One of the weaknesses of a factorial design

is the forcing of scores into condensed categories.

As can be seen in Figure 6, the low IC means were

greater than those of high IC. Therefore, the hypothesis

was not supported for the collegiate image.

Outfit 5

Table 12

Collegiate Image Clothing Behavior Categorized Into Congruity Conditions

SELF-CONGRUITY

..d bO ·.-I :r::

High

Positive Congruity

x = 3.125 S.D. = 1.539 n = 106

Negative Congruity

x = 3.757 S.D. = 1.491 n = 11

Note: Main and ,Interaction effects

self-congruity ideal-congruity self x ideal-congruity

Low

Positive Incongruity

x = 1.976 S.D. = 1.201 n = 14

Negative Incongruity

x = 2.288 S.D. = 1.363 n = 96

F 23-:775

2.201 .268

E .000 .139 .605

r2 . 0°9"5 .008 .001

\0 0

4

p:: 3 0 H >-

i::Q

c., 2 z H ::c: H 0 u

1

91

Low IC High IC

High Low

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 6 Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by

Collegiate Clothing Behavior

92

Aggregate Analysis. An aggregate analysis of the

means for each congruity condition in regard to all cos-

tumes was performed. The means were treated as raw data,

5 cases per cell. Means were surmned and divided by 5 to

calculate an aggregate mean. As can be seen in Table 13,

positive congruity had the highest mean (3.510), followed

by positive incongruity (3.009), negative congruity (2.991)

and negative incongruity (2.569). A two-way analysis of

variance was used to test the difference of the means.

There were no statistically significant differences in the

main effects or the interaction effect. A possible reason

for this was the amount of variance that was evident in

the calculation of the original means for each costume.

The relationship between the aggregate means is shown

in Figure 7. The IC lines are parallel with no inter-

action effect. This supports the hypothesis that positive

congruity (high SC, high IC) will be the highest mean, with

positive incongruity (high IC, low SC) and negative con-

gruity (high SC, low IC) exhibiting approximately equal

means, as indicated by the broken line, and negative in-

congruity (low IC, low SC) as the lowest mean.

A weighted mean aggregate analysis also was performed.

The results were as anticipated; however, the positive

incongruity mean was higher than expected due to the large

number of respondents experiencing positive incongruity for

the business-like image.

High

Table 13

Aggregate Congruity Conditions of Clothing Behavior

SELF-CONGRUITY Low

Positive Congruity

x = 3.510

Positive Incongruity

x = 3.099 S.D. = 1.481 n = 5

Negative Congruity

x = 2.991 S. D. = 1. 236 n = 5

S.D. = 1.497 n = 5

Negative Incongruity

x = 2.569 S.D. = 1.034 n = 5

Note: Main and Interaction Effects

Self-Congruity Ideal Congruity Self by Ideal Congruity

iNs = nonsignificant at p < .05

F .13"67

1.326 .050

.I?. NS* NS* NS*

\0 w

4

1

94

- - - - - - - High IC

..__Low IC

High Low

SELF-CONGRUITY

Figure 7

Effects of Self and Ideal Congruity by Aggregate Clothing Behavior

95

The overall pattern of results combined assessing the

relationship between self-image/clothing-image congruity

and clothing behavior appeared generally consistent with

hypothesis 1. That is, clothing behavior is more affected

by positive self-congruity, followed by positive self-

incongruity or negative self-congruity, and negative

incongruity, respectively.

Hypothesis 2: There will be a significant relationship between career anchorage position and self-image/clothing-image congruity for five costumes.

The respondents' scores on career anchorage were

computed and categorized. Almost 36 percent of the

respondents had downwardly anchored career perspectives,

nearly 61 percent were ambivalently anchored and 3.5 per-

cent were upwardly anchored (Table 14).

To test the hypothesis, Pearson product moment cor-

relations were calculated between 1) self-congruity and

COAS and the ACHS; 2) between ideal-congruity and the COAS

and the ACHS; and 3) between the linearly combined self-

congruity and ideal-congruity and the COAS and the ACHS.

The correlation coefficients of the three congruity

conditions indicated that the business-like costume was the

only one to exhibit a statistically significant relation-

ship with congruity (Table 15); the only condition which

was not statistically significant was the ideal-congruity

in relation to the COAS. Thus it was concluded that the

96

Table 14

Distribution of Career Orientation Anchorages

Career Anchorage

Upward

Ambivalent

Downward

Frequency

8

138

81 227

Percent

3.5

60.8

35.7 100.0

97

Table 15

Congruity Correlated with COAS and ACHS

Congruity

F emin in e Image Self-Congruity Ideal-Congruity SC + IC

Business-like Image Self-Congruity Ideal-Congruity SC + IC

Casual Image Self-Congruity Ideal-Congruity SC + IC

Sexy Image Self-Congruity Ideal-Congruity SC + IC

Collegiate Image Self-Congruity Ideal-Congruity SC + IC

*p < .05 **p < .01

***p < .001

COAS

r

(SC) .059 ( IC) .140

.107

(SC) -.116* ( IC) -.082

-.120*

(SC) .083 (IC) .032

. 062

( SC) -.063 (IC) -.045

-.056

( SC) -.101 ( IC) -.033

-.071

ACHS

r

-.055 .050

-.022

-.303*** -.140** -.272***

.135

.103

.129

-.115* .015

-.048

-.054 .003

-.027

98

women who were the most highly motivated to achieve (high

COAS and ACHS scores) would wear the business-like outfit

to work.

The second hypothesis was not supported because a

statistical significance was found for only one of the

five costumes.

Discussion of the Findings

Clothing Behavior

The analysis of the data collected from 227 working

women revealed that clothing behavior related to work can

be predicted by self-image/clothing-image congruity. Each

of the five costumes selected for use in the study will be

discussed.

The first costume, feminine image, sup~orted the

hypothesis that women who have positive self-congruity

with a costume will wear that garment. In other words, if

the actual self-image and the ideal self-image are similar

to the perceived garment image, the garment will be worn.

In contrast, women who did not see themselves as feminine

and did not want to project a feminine image (negative

self-incongruity) wore the garment less often. Some

respondents wore this type image even though they were in

a conflict state regarding it (positive self-incongruity

and negative self-congruity). Reasons for this are not

known and are beyond the scope of this study. It can be

99

speculated that feminine image garments were part of a cur-

rent wardrobe inventory and perhaps, because of cost or

other reasons, the items cannot be discarded.

Many respondents displayed positive self-congruity

(high ideal- and high self-congruity) with the business-

like garment and wore it to work most of the time. Re-

spondents who had positive self-incongruity concerning this

outfit liked the image but did not see themselves in this

way although they would ideally like to be business-like.

When relating their behavior to the self-esteem and self-

consistency mediating factors, these women were willing

to relinquish self-consistency to gain self-esteem. The

ideal self-image appeared to be more important than the

actual self-image. These data support that of Boles et

al. (1983) which indicated that for some outfits the ideal

self-image was more important than the actual self-image

in relating fashionability to clothing.

Many of the women did not see themselves as business-

like and did not ideally want to be that way (negative

incongruity) but they wore the outfit quite often. In

this congruity state the garment generally would not be

worn; however, the skirted suit has been promoted for

several years as a popular fashion and as the standard of

dress for professional women. Previous researchers have

found that employers in an interview situation prefer

prospective employees who wear the skirted suit (Cook,

100

1978; Forsythe, 1981; Cash and Comer, 1982). Possibly

these women were intimidated by significant others to wear

this costume image.

Thus, the business-like costume supported the hypo-

thesis. It also supported the research efforts of earlier

consumer behaviorists who had theorized that self-image/

product-image congruity leads to purchase or choice (Bird-

well, 1968; Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982a).

A positive congruity with the casual image was evi-

denced by women who had self-images and ideal-images which

they believed matched the casual look. This garment was

worn to work sometimes by many women (n=80) as evidenced

by the mean (2.683) even though negative incongruity was

experienced. Many of them commented that comfort was

important to them and this type outfit was comfortable;

some stated that they worke~ in drafty, vermin filled

buildings and that there was no incentive to wear fashion-

able or "good" clothes in their work environment. This

also was reported by Form and Stone (1955) whose data

indicated that workers in different positions viewed

clothing differently.

The sexy image was worn to work very seldom as shown

by the low clothing behavior means (Table 11). The lowest

score a woman could check on the questionnaire was 1 and

the highest mean was 1.289. This was the mean for the

181

positive self-congruity state, so those women who wore the

outfit felt good about it.

The collegiate image was the outfit that had the

highest clothing behavior mean in the negative congruity

cell. There were only eleven women who saw themselves as

collegiate but would rather not project that image (Table

12); however, they wore it quite often. Perhaps these

garments were from a college wardrobe and still in ex-

cellent condition.

The hypothesis that positive congruity will lead to

the greatest wearing of a garment followed by positive in-

congruity or negative congruity and negative incongruity

was found to be predictive. This was evidenced in the

results of the study and supported Sirgy's (1982a) theory

that behavior is affected by self-image/product-image con-

gruity as influenced by the activation and operation of

self-esteem and self-consistency motivations.

Achievement Motivation

The hypothesis relating achievement motivation to

clothing congruity was supported in relation to the busi-

ness-like image but not in relation to the feminine, casual,

sexy or collegiate images. Since the hypothesis stated it

would be supported in all cases it had to be rejected.

The female respondents did not like this section of

the instrument. Some voiced objections to the wording of

102

the items and questions in the instrument which were left

unanswered were in this section. An example: one woman

returned the questionnaire with a letter saying that she

could not respond to phrases such as "reach the top" and

"as far as you can go". She related these to "power

hungry" and "defeatist attitude." The objections may have

been a contributing factor to the low reliability of the

scale.

Although previous studies using the COAS had not in-

cluded women in their sample both Tausky and Dubin (1965)

and Goldman (1978), as well as the present study which did

include women, indicated that the upwardly anchored group

was the smallest proportion. Nearly 61 percent of the

women in this study and 43 percent of the men in each of

the two previous studies were ambivalently anchored. Those

classified as downwardly anchored constituted nearly 44

percent of the males in the two earlier studies and almost

36 percent of the women in the current study.

The COAS could not be validated by the ACHS, which

led to the conclusion that achievement motivation cannot

be measured by an anchorage position. Perhaps it could be

deduced that an individual can be motivated, but not toward

an organizational peak. Individuals who are satisfied

with their level of advancement may not desire a higher

position but are motivated to do an excellent job in their

current position.

103

The respondents in this study had more education than

the national average. Goldman (1978) reported that with

increasing education there was an extreme decline in down-

ward career anchorage and an equal magnitude in the in-

crease in ambivalent career orientation. He speculated

that training for a specific specialty or profession leads

away from achieving higher positions in the employing

organization. The educational level of the professional

sample in this study could be a reason for the greater

number of ambivalently anchored women. Almost half the

sample were professors and perhaps had reached the goal

set for themselves which may explain why the business-like

outfit was significantly correlated with achievement

motivation and career anchorage; these women wanted to

look professional and believed the business image looked

professional; and they were satisfied with their career

accomplishments.

Thus, it is possible to generalize that self-image/

clothing-image congruity is predictive of the clothing a

woman wears to work. Women most often wear outfits which

are similar to their self-image beliefs and avoid those

which are unlike their self-image beliefs. The congruity

conditions for each outfit image used in the study were

not significantly related to career anchorage position or

achievement motivation, except for the business-like cos-

tume.

CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study was undertaken to investigate the signifi-

cance of self-image/clothing-image congruity on women's

clothing behavior for work. The relationship between

career anchorage position (achievement motivation) and

self-image/clothing-image congruity for five costume

images: feminine, business-like, casual, sexy and col-

legiate also was examined. Selected demographic variables

(employment history, family situation and personal data)

were investigated for descriptive purposes.

A review of related literature revealed that self-

image/product-image congruity was related to an indivi-

dual's behavior toward a particular item, and that products

had symbolic meaning. Studies have considered the rela-

tions between the self and clothing and have taken into

account the various aspects of the self such as actual

self-image and ideal self-image. Thus, inferences regard-

ing the self have been drawn from the symbolic meaning of

clothing in communication, and from clothing and its

relation to self-esteem. However, little empirical study

has focused on the concept of clothing-image and self-

image congruity.

104

105

An applied self-concept theory developed by Sirgy

(1982a) was the basis for the research. It utilized both

the actual self-concept and the ideal self-concept as they

relate to a product image and it postulates that product

cues usually activate a self-schema involving the same

images. Thus, a value is placed on a product and its image

attributes will be evoked by the self-schema. Similarity

between a product's image and a person's actual self-image

has been called self-congruity. Furthermore, a match

between a product-image and an individual's ideal self-

image has been called ideal-congruity. When self-congruity

and ideal-congruity interact, one of four distinct con-

ditions is formed: positive self-congruity, positive self-

incongruity, negative self-congruity and negative self-

incongruity. Each of these conditions leads to a different

level of acceptance of a product.

The mediating factors of self-consistency and self-

esteem are related to self-congruity and ideal-congruity,

respectively. Self-consistency influences the person to

act in ways that are consistent with his self-image. Self-

esteem enhances the individual's need to act in a manner

which will increase his positive self-regard.

The use of a symbolic image of clothing to achieve

goals or to acquire a higher level position was researched

by Form and Stone (1955). White-collar workers and men

employed in occupations accorded high social standing

106

attached high importance to clothing in general, while

manual workers and men employed in lower community prestige

occupations attached less importance to clothing. White-

collar workers also viewed clothing as a potential for

favorably impressing other people with whom they came in

contact at work. Thus, white-collar workers viewed dress

as a symbol capable of manipulation in the work situation

to influence others and "dressed up" to impress hiring

agents when they first applied for jobs. The respondents

indicated that one's mode of dress affects his job op-

portunities and wearing appropriate garments made it

possible to advance occupationally.

Self-concept related to clothing behavior was re-

searched by Takahashi and Newton (1962) who found signifi-

cant relationships between an individual's self-concept

and her peer groups' concept of her clothing conformity.

Humphrey et al. (1971) reported that young women with high

self-esteem were concerned with presenting pleasing

appearances and were self-expressive. Gibbins (1969)

indicated that the impression created by liked costumes

was much nearer the ideal self-image than disliked ones.

Thus, self-image can be seen as an influence on clothing

behavior.

Self-image has been related to product symbolism and

achievement motivation. Dearborn (1918) reported that men

and women college students believed clothing was of value

107

for impressing others with one's worth, adding to self-

confidence and could lead to job promotion. Thus, self-

image/clothing image congruity can be related to achieve-

ment motivation theory which assumes that most individuals

strive for success in any situation where standards of

excellence are applicable. Tausky and Dubin (1965) in-

vestigated levels of aspiration and divided them into

anchorage positions: upwardly anchored or those indivi-

duals who strive for peak positions in an organization;

ambivalently anchored, those who are neither upwardly nor

downwardly oriented; and downwardly anchored, those who

measure success from a career starting point.

A model was developed, using self-image/clothing-

image congruity theory and career anchorage theory, to

predict women's clothing behavior for work. Two hypo-

theses were derived: 1) costumes which induce positive

congruity will be worn more often than those which induce

either positive incongruity or negative congruity, followed

by negative incongruity; and 2) there will be a signifi-

cant relationship between career anchorage position and

self-image/clothing-image congruity for five costumes.

Development and selection of measures. A measure was

constructed to assess self-image/clothing-image congruity.

Garment illustrations were selected which represented five

distinct images, as determined by a pretest sample. The

images were feminine, business-like, casual, sexy and

108

collegiate. Each garment was matched with three descrip-

tive words, based on responses furnished by the pretest

sample. This provided a fifteen word scale which could be

tested for reliability. Each garment image was rated by

the women with the fifteen words using a scale of 1 (the

garment image did not match the word) to 5 (the garment

image did match the word). The same fifteen words were

used by the respondents to rate their actual self-image

and their ideal self-image. If the word matched either of

these images they responded with a 5; if it did not reflect

their image, they checked a 1. To measure clothing be-

havior, three questions were formulated asking how often

each of the five garments was worn to work. A scale of 1

(not often) to 6 (very often) was used to quantify the

information. All of these scales constituted the Clothing

Congruity Measure.

To measure career anchorage positions, the Tausky

and Dubin (1965) COAS was adapted for use with women. It

contained six items with upward or downward career orien-

tations. The more upward answers indicated by a respondent

the higher her aspirations toward an organizational peak.

Conversely, fewer upward responses led to the downwardly

anchored position classification.

A second achievement motivation measure developed by

Mehrabian and Banks (1975) was used to validate the COAS.

It contained 39 statements related to achievement goals.

109

There was no significant correlation between the two scales

so the criterion validity was not established.

Part of the instrument was a demographic section.

This was used to identify various job levels and positions

and different personal characteristics of the sample. The

respondents were found to be atypical of the national

population of working women because these women had higher

incomes, more education and had worked longer in their

current position. However, the sample might be typical of

the employed females in major institutions of higher edu-

cation.

The sample was 227 women from three land-grant uni-

versities. They were faculty and staff members and each

constituted about 50 percent of the sample. Data were

collected by mailing the self-administered questionnaire

to these individuals at their offices.

Hypothesis one, which stated that costumes with

positive congruity would be worn more often than those

with the other congruity conditions was supported. The

feminine, business-like, casual and sexy image costumes

followed the expected pattern; however, the collegiate

image costume did not. An aggregate analysis of the means

of all costumes was performed and the results were con-

sistent with the hypothesis.

Hypothesis two, which stated that a significant

relationship would exist between career anchorage position

llC

and achievement motivation and self-image/clothing-image

congruity for five costumes was not supported. Pearson

product moment correlations were calculated between con-

gruity and the achievement motivation scale and the career

orientation anchorage scale. The only costume for which

the correlations reached statistical significance was the

business-like image in relation to higher career anchorage

and achievement motivation.

This study provided support for the theory that self-

image is related to the choice of clothing for work. If

the evoked clothing-image of an outfit is positively con-

gruent with the self-image (including both the actual self

and the ideal self) it will be worn most of the time. Con-

gruity and career anchorage position and achievement

motivation were related to the business-like outfit but

not to any of the other outfits.

Recommendations

The recommendations are divided into three parts:

1) improvements in research methodology, 2) future research

and 3) uses of current study.

Improvements in Research Methodology

Since much of the prepatory work for this study was

associated with the development and selection of measures,

the following improvements are suggested:

111

l. The women in this study were atypical of the popu-

lation of working women. A sample comprised of females

from another employment sector might contribute to the

validity of the study.

2. Several of the descriptive words generated for

the study were broad and could be used to describe more

than one costume. Perhaps the costumes could be shown

and only the three words which described each garment be

rated in regard to that garment.

3. Since the COAS originally was designed for men

and was not acceptable to the female respondents in this

study, a different instrument should be used. Possibly

the current one could be adapted to a more feminine orien-

tation.

4. The absolute difference model was used to calcu-

late congruity scores. Other models, such as the dif-

ference squared models, simple difference models, Euclidean

distance models or the interactive congruence model may be

more predictive.

5. An interview might yield more information than a

mailed survey. Interviewers would be able to assess the

actual garments being worn at the interview in addition to

the data provided by the self-administered instrument.

112

Future Research

Some of the reconnnendations for future research are

related to the current project and others are an outgrowth

of it.

1. It would be desirable for this study to be repli-

cated with another type of white-collar women. If similar

results were obtained, the findings could be generalized

to a much wider population. The validity would be improved

to further substantiate the theory.

2. The congruity groups that exhibited approximately

equal clothing behavior means in this study (positive

self-incongruity and negative self-congruity) can be

studied in regard to achievement motivation. Those who

experience positive self-incongruity may be more highly

motivated than those who exhibit negative self-congruity.

3. The congruity conditions could be investigated

in regard to locus of control. Individuals who have an

internal locus of control and experience positive self-

incongruity may be more highly achievement motivated than

those who exhibit positive self-congruity, negative self-

congruity and negative self-incongruity. Those who possess

an external locus of control may be more highly motivated

in the positive self-congruity state, followed by negative

self-congruity, positive self-incongruity and negative

self-incongruity.

113

4. In future research, respondents could be asked

more questions about their job aspirations to help vali-

date the COAS. Such items as personal motivation for

going to work, immediate and long range goals might be

investigated.

5. The costumes from this study could be expanded

to include some of those worn by blue-collar workers. It

would be interesting to compare the career anchorages of

blue-collar women with white-collar women.

6. Demographics such as age, marital status, years

of employment (both total and continuous) could be investi-

gated in relation to career anchorage orientation and

achievement motivation and to congruity and motivation.

Uses of the Current Study

The results of this study could be useful to educators,

researchers and marketers of fashion who are interested in

image congruence and clothing behavior.

1. This research has integrated the different selfs

of an individual, combined self-concept with clothing, and

provided a clothing congruity linkage between self and

normative behavior. Professors of clothing and textiles

could use this integrated concept to explain some of the

phenomenon related to personal dress. An individual

organizes his near environment so that it has personal

meaning to him, and the personally symbolic meaning of

114

apparel is important to the self-concept. Thus, the way

an individual perceives himself and is perceived by others

is a predictor of the clothing he will wear in regard to

the role he plays and to his value system. Because the

self-concept develops through interpersonal communication,

it changes over time, with new experiences and new

environments. Thus, clothing behavior, as a means of

communication, can change with the setting and with the

influence of peers and significant others. This study

indicated that clothing behavior in the occupational

world can be related to congruity and to the norm for

achievement motivation. As apparel styles and symbolic

meanings change, an individual's clothing behavior also

will change.

2. The research methodology and the model developed

for this study could be used as a guide in preparing

instruments for future research. The achievement motiva-

tion variable could be replaced or supplemented with

moderating variables such as dogmatism, locus-of-control,

self-monitoring, and other variables such as dress code

norms.

3. Retailers can use the information that personality

variables are linked to clothing behavior to elicit

desired market responses. The data in this study showed

that achievement oriented females wear the business-like

outfit most often to work and that this outfit is congruent

115

with their self-images. Therefore, a merchandising mix

can be assembled which will meet consumer needs. The

retailer who is interested in this market segment might

investigate such things as price-quality beliefs and

adjust his inventory and pricing strategy accordingly.

Demographic and psychographic data about the women could

help the retailer in selecting a store location. Since

these women have exhibited congruity between the business-

like garment and their self-image, a corresponding store

image could be created with merchandise and services

suitable for the achievement oriented woman. The media

ratings could be checked to determine what magazines

and newspapers read by this market segment and des~gn an

appropriate promotional strategy. The information from

the study also could be used to determine other market

segments and the retailing mix could be changed to meet

the criteria of that segment. For example, if a woman

has a self-image congruent with the feminine outfit, the

mix might contain reinforcement for the feminine image;

advertising strategies and departments might be created to

depict femininity.

4. Advertising managers could divide the target

market into four congruity groups and design specific ad-

vertising strategies for each group for the purpose of

effecting an optimal self-image/clothing-image congruity

state and, therefore, motivate them to buy the advertised

116

outfit. Positive self-congruity women believe that the

business-like outfit is professional and efficient. For

them, the advertising strategy coul~ be one of reinforce-

ment. The positive self-incongruity group believe that

the business-like costume is professional, but think of

themselves as lacking that characteristic. In this case,

the advertising manager should use copy which assocates

the business-like outfit with women who are professional

to maintain the positive perception of the garment, and

depict behavioral devices designed to change their negative

self-perceptions to be more positive. The market segment

which has a negative product image and a negative self-

image should have advertising directed to moderately

change the negative image of the business-like garment to

a positive one. Women who exhibit a negative image toward

the garment and a positive self- and ideal-image should

be of little concern to the advertising strategist.

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APPENDIX A

COVER LETTER AND INSTRUMENT

126

127

COLUGE OF HUMAN IU:SOURCES

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSiiY

Bl.ukrb,n-g, Virgini., 24061 • 8396

DEPARTMENT OF CLOn!lNG AND TD."Tll.ES

January 15, 1983

Dear Fellow ~orking w=,

Are you interested ill your clo:hing behavior as it relates to your job? The research for my doctoral dissertation deals ~"1th this subject. As one of a selected group of working women, your cooperation in filling ou: the enclosed questionnaire Will help me complete my degree and will help women to understand their clothing behavior.

The items on the questiotmaire require only brief responses. There are no right or .-rong answers. Just indicate how you feel about each item. It is illlportant that you answer each question.

Your responses will be anonymous. Do not put your name any-where on the questionnaire. Mail the completed form to me in the enclosed envelope. Since you are part of a selected group, it is important that you return the questionnaire to me at your earlies: convenience, preferably by January 31.

Sincerely,

Mary K. Ericksen, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Clothing and Textiles

Enid r. Tozier, Professor Depart:ment of Clothing and Textiles

128

DIRECTIONS:

This is a study about your behavior toward dress. There are no right or wrong answers. The best answer is what you believe is true for yourself. The value of this study is highly dependent on the truthfulness of your responses. Please respond to the items below by checking the appro-priate space using the following scale:

Strongly disAgree l 2 3 4 5 Strongly agree

1. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS:

(Note that you are asked about how you actually see yourself, not how you would like to see yo,i°rself; in some cases how you see yourself is the same as how you would like to see yourself, in other cases, they may not be the same. You should note this dif-ference.)

2. WOUUl YOU LIKE TO SEE YOURSELF AS:

(Note that this question is about how you would .!f!:!. to see yourself, no~ how you actually are.)

W01DSnly casual collegiate sexy efficient easy-going youthful slinky business-like delicate relaxed preppy sensuous feminine professional

womanly casual collegiate HX'/

efficient easy-going youthful slinky business-like delicate relaxed preppy sensuous feminine professional

l 2

l 2

3 4 s

3 4

129

Please indicate your level of agreemant to the questions by checking the appropriate space using the folloWing scale:

Strongly disa3ree 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly agree

l. Do you believa the woman wearing outfit l is:

womanly casual collegiate sexy eff~ient easy-going youthful slinky business-like delicate relaxad preppy

fem.ill.in• profesaional

1 2 3 4 S

i ., I \ d • \

l, I 1 · I • \

" I l \ i I I

II I (/' 8 Outfit l

2. Do you believe the woman wearing outfit 2 is:

Outfit 2

womanly

casual collegiate sexy

efficient easy-going youthful slinky

business-like del~ate relaxed preppy sensuous feminine professional

l 2 3 4 s

130

Use the following scale in responding to the items below:

Strongly disagree 2 3 4 5 Stron5lv

3. Do you believe the woman wearing outfit 3 is:

womanly casual collegiate sexy

efficient easy-going youthful slinky business-like delicate relaxed preppy sensuous fe:ninine professional

2 3 4 5

Outfit 3

. l N I I I

I I

4. Do you believe the woman wearing outfit 4 is:

Outfit 4

womanly casual colleg.ia.te sexy

effic1enc easy-going

youthful slinky business-like delicate relaxed preppy sensuous

feminine professional

2 3 4 5

131

Use the following scale in responding to item 5: Stronsly disagree l 2 3 4 Strongly agree

5. Do you believe the liO!!lan wearing outfit 5 is: l 2 3 4 5

womanly

casual collegiate sexy _,,,/ I efficient easy-going youthful slinky business-like delicai:e relaxed preppy sensuous feminine professional

I ' I I

l I I I I I

Outfit 5

I

\'i -.\

\ \

\\ \ \ \ \

\)

Look at the sketches of the outfii:s. Please answer the following quesi:ions by checking the appropriate space.

l. How often do you wear this type outfit to work? Cutfil: l: least often very often Outfit 2: least often very often Outfit 3: least often very often Outfit 4: least often very often Outfit 5: laase oft.en very often

z. To what exeent is this out.fit similar to what you usually wear to work?

Outfit 1: noe ae all similar very similar

Outfit. 2: not at all similar very similar Outfit 3: not at all similar very similar Outfit 4: noe at all similar very similar Cutfit 5: not at all similar vety similar

3. This is what I usually wear to work. Outfit: 1: highly disagree highly agree

Outfit 2: highly disagree highly agree

Outfit 3: highly disagree highly agree

Outfit 4: highly disagree highly agree

Outfit 5: highly disagree highly agree

132

Plaase answer die following questions. Indicate your choice of answers by checking the appropriate space.

l. Which woman do you feel is giving her daughter the best advice?

__ When you start your career, don't be satisfied until you reach the top in it.

__ When you start your career, don't be satisfied until you have gone just as far as you can in it.

2. Success 1n work means different things to different people. Two women are described below. Which wan would you say knew what success was?

__ Ms. S felt that her career had not been fully successful because she had not reached a top position in the firm. Ms. A felt that she had lad a successful career because she had been able to reach an important position in the firm.

3. ?wo W01ll8l have identical positions in a company. Which is the attitude that best desc::ibes the woman most likely to be doing a good job now?

Ms. A has moved up about five steps from where she started at work. She is proud of --- how far she has advanced and chinks her past success is a good predictor of further

promotions. She expects to .reach the top of her career before retirement.

lfs. S has moved up about five steps from where she started at work. She is pleased --- with how far she has already advanced in the company and she hopes to make a few more

a:ives up to the highest promotion she can get in the company before retirement.

4. Two wome11 in similar positions are being considered for promotion to a top position in a firm. llhich do you chink would be cha best choice for the position?

~.s. A began her career in a "junior executive" position, and she has had considerable --- L'<perience and success in making decisions and supervising.

lfs. S has worked herself up from the ranks. &ar career has given her experience and success in a variety of positions of increasing :Importance.

S. The satisfactions women get out of their• work differ for different women. Described below are two women who work effectively, but have been by-passed for pr01110tion. llhich woman do you think has the attitude appropriate to the situation?

Ms. B resents her lack of promotion. She continues :o work effectively, but now gets little satisfaction from her wrk. Ms. A does not resent her lack of promotion and feels satisfaction in having advanced as far as she has :in her firm.

6. Getting ahead in a career is a long and screnuous process. Somet:imes one's family life may temporarily suffer because of career respocaibilities. llhich of the two wmen in the situation described below luul made adequate adjustment to the situation?

?wo women have worked up from the ranks to responsible positions with a good income. B(!th like to be hmae with their families in the evenings, but any opportunity for further promotion for either requires several years of advanced study at a nearby university.

Ms. S decided for evening study to prepare for promotion. She realized that her eveaing -- time spent wich her family would be reduced and that her spouse would resent this.

lfs. A decided against evening study to enjoy being with her family; her spouse was glad -- that she decided to stay home in the evenings.

133

Ibis questionnaire consists of a number of statements concerning your personal attitudes towards everyday work and social situations. Bead each statement and then decide whether you agree with it or not. Be sure to answer each question according to what you really feel. !ndicate for each statement the extent of your agreement or disagreement by circling the number after the statement using the following scale:

1 • strong disagreement 2 • disagreement 3 • neither agreement or disagreement 4 • agreemant S • strong agreement

1. I believe that l am a more capable worker than most others I know.

2. I find little sat1sfactioa. in working ha:rd.

3. Most any task I undertake whether it is for school, my job or just my own leisure, I successfully complete.

4. When I have a task to do I like to think it out on my own.

5. I believe if I continue to work very hard my efforts will eventually pay off.

6. If I had more tillle I'd work on leaming new skills of interest.

7. At work, when a decision IIIWlt be made, people tur.: 11:0re to 1118 than to others.

8. llhen I do a job I set high standards for myself regardless of what others do.

9. If I try hard enough I can do almost anything.

10. I really believe that I - an opti.lllist at work.

11. I usually resort to knOWll ways of doing things rather then trying out a new approach.

12. Even though a job paid well, if it bored me, I would quit and look for a better one.

13. Often, others have given up on a task, while I'm still trying.

14. I don't really believe that criticism aids my personal and pro-fessional growth.

15. I of~en succeed in reaching important goals I have set for myself.

16. All in all up to this point in my life I can't say that I've accomplished the things I really want to do.

17. I'd rather be interviewed for a job with a 1110derate but fixed salary than one for which I had to persuade the boss of my worth.

18. For 1H hard work results in success.

19. I would never let my supervisor know that I disagree with him/her.

20. In my work I do just what I need to get by.

21. I could enjoy working on a year long project with a big pay off at successful complet1011.

22. I raall7 enjoy a job that involves overcoming obstacles.

23. I would rather try to get c.ro or three things done quiekly than spend all my time working on one project.

2.4. ! enjoy opportunitites to discover my own strengths and weaknesses.

25. ! like to do the job when someone is needed to handle a pretty difficult situation.

l 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 3

l 2 3 4 5

2 3 4 S

2 3 4 5

2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 S

l 2 3 4 S

l 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 S

l 2 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 S

l 2 3 4 5

134

26. Once I've started to work on something, I hate to stop before ! finish.

27. Leaming new skill.a doan' t excite me much.

28. I can do most things as well. as anyone else.

29. My strongest ful.:!ngs are aroused more by fear of failure than by hope of success.

30. I am ambitious.

31. I can usually convince other people that I am right about my work.

32. I dislike having my work evaluated.

33. I try to look to the future rather than just try for immediate success.

34. These days I sea little chance for promotion on the job unless a person gets a break.

35. I have a very definite idea of what I want to do with TY career.

36. At work I like to start right on the difficult tasks I couldn't finish the day before.

37. I almost always try to do more than the task actually requires.

38. I prefer a supervisor who is easy going to one who may be more knowlacgeable but hard to please.

39. I chink that people should be satisfied with any reasonable job these days.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

1 2 3 4 5

l Z 3 4 5

l Z 3 4 S

l Z 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 5

1 Z 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

l 2 3 4 S

1 2 3 4 5

l Z 3 4 5

These data ..,...ll be used to describe working women. Please do not put your name anywhere on the questionnaire. ?lease check or write in the response which best describes your situation.

1. At which universicy are you ellll!loYed? MSU

2. What is your position? Staff __ Faculty

College---------,-Job title _________ _

3. How long have you been employed in your present position?

less than 6 mocchs 6 months to l year l year, l m,mtb to 5 years

5 years, l month to 10 years __ more than 10 years

osu VPI & SU

Other (describe) _____ _ Department __________ _

4. licw many years have you been working since you first started c~reer employment? _______ _

5. Is this your first job? ___ yes no

6. Do you believe you have advanced in your career? ___ yes 110

135

7. Did you take time out from your career for any of the following reasons? education married did not cake time out (go to question 10)

__ other (specify) ___________ _

8. Row long were you out of the labor force? less than l year

___ l year l month to 2 years ___ 2 years 1 month to 4 years

9. Did you return to work in a lower position in the same level position in a higher position

10. Current marital status: married

__ single

11. Age: less than 25 years 25 - 34 years 35 - 44 years

divorced ___ separated

to rear children ___ pregnancy

4 years l month to 6 years 6 years 1 m.on th to 10 years more than 10 years

45 - 54 years 55 - 64 years 65 and older

widow other

12. How many children do you have in each of the following categoriu? ___ pre-school __ kindergarten - 6th grade

7th - 12th grade ___ college/special education

13. Education: 8th grade or less

___ attended high school but did not graduate __ high school graduate/trade school

less than 2 years college/junior college ___ graduate of a 4 year college

advanced degree

14. Income Range (Your income, not your f3111ily income). less than $9,999 per year $10,000 - $14,999 $15,000 - $19,999 $20,000 - $24,999

15. What is your cultural affiliation? Caucasian American Hispanic American Asian American

16. Any comments you would like to make:

$25,000 - $29,999 $30,000 - $34,999 $35,000 - $39,999 $40,000 and above

Black A1nerican Indian American Other (specify)

APPENDIX B

ADDITIONAL TABLES

136

137

Table 16

Inter-item Consistency on Clothing Measures for Pretest Sample

n=20

r Variables ab be

SELF-IMAGE a womanly .326 b delicate .391 C feminine

a casual .546 b easy-going .756 C relaxed

a collegiate .466 b youthful -.057 C preppy

a sexy .517 b slinky .161 C vamp

a efficient .544 b business-like .804 C professional

IDEAL SELF-IMAGE a womanly .233 b delicate .260 C feminine

a casual .451 b easy-going .895 C relaxed

a collegiate .263 b youthful .126 C preppy

ac p

.080

.044 .718 .000

.006

.000 .472 .018

.019

.405 .121 .306

.010

.248 -.059 .401

.006

.000 .511 .011

.161

.134 .519 .009

.023

.000 .499 .012

.131

.297 .413 .035

138

Table 16 (continued)

r Variables ab be ac p

a sexy .643 .001 b slinky .252 .142 C vamp .157 .254

a efficient .435 .027 b business-like . 824 .000 C professional .653 .001

FEMININE OUTFIT 1 a womanly .384 .047 b delicate .585 .003 C feminine .495 .013

BUSINESS-LIKE OUTFIT 2 a efficient .578 .004 b bus ines s-1 ike .838 .000 C professional .578 .004

CASUAL OUTFIT 3 a casual .221 .174 b easy-going .442 .025 C relaxed .375 .052

SEXY OUTFIT 4 a sexy .765 .000 b slinky .814 .000 C vamp .624 .002

COLLEGIATE OUTFIT 5 a collegiate .615 .002 b youthful .542 .007 C preppy .500 .012

FEMININE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .694 .000 b Question 2* .757 .000 C Question 3* .659 .001

139

Table 16 (continued)

r Variables ab be ac

BUSINESS-LIKE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .590 b Question 2* .899 C Question 3* .630

CASUAL CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .878 b Question 2* .955 C Question 3* .910

SEXY CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .600 b Question 2* .869 C Question 3* .514

COLLEGIATE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .919 b Question 2* .902 C Question 3* .892

*Note: Questions 1. How often do you wear this outfit to work? 2. To what extent is this outfit similar to what

you usually wear to work? 3. This is what I usually wear to work.

E

.003

.000

.001

.000

.000

.000

.003

.000

.010

.000

.000

.000

140

Table 17

Inter-item Consistency and Alpha Coefficients on Clothing Measures for Final Sample

n=227

r Variables ab be ac :e al:eha

SELF-IMAGE a womanly -.020 .380 b delicate .261 .000 C feminine .543 .000 .544

a casual .394 .000 b easy-going .596 .000 C relaxed .327 .000 .701

a collegiate .363 .000 b youthful .166 .006 C preppy .457 .000 .596

a sexy .272 .000 b slinky .381 .000 C sensuous .641 .000 .703

a efficient .391 .000 b business-like .636 .000 C professional .443 .000 .745

IDEAL-IMAGE a womanly .165 .006 b delicate .328 .000 C feminine .535 .000 .590

a casual .431 .000 b easy-going .677 .000 C relaxed .369 .000 .745

a collegiate .227 .000 b youthful .034 .301 C preppy .499 .000 .500

a sexy .397 .000 b slinky .477 .000 C sensuous .757 .000 .786

141

Table 17 (continued)

r Variables ab be ac E aleha

a efficient .440 .000 b business-like .658 .000 C professional .426 .000 .757

FEMININE OUTFIT 1 a womanly .057 .193 b delicate .234 .000 C feminine .354 .000 .426

BUSINESS-LIKE OUTFIT 2 a efficient .668 .000 b business-like .877 .000 C professional .663 .000 .889

CASUAL OUTFIT 3 a casual .471 .000 b easy-going .556 .000 C relaxed .391 .000 .727

SEXY OUTFIT 4 a sexy .602 .000 b slinky .543 .000 C sensuous .698 .000 .835

COLLEGIATE OUTFIT 5 a collegiate .599 .000 b youthful .543 .000 C preppy .553 .000 .793

FEMININE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .843 .000 b Question 2* .876 .000 C Question 3* .847 .000 .946

BUSINESS-LIKE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .867 .000 b Question 2* .884 .000 C Question 3* .897 .000 .957

142

Table 17 (continued)

r Variables ab be ac :e al:eha

CASUAL CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .851 .000 b Question 2·k .895 .000 C Question 3* .869 .000 .953

SEXY CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .711 .000 b Question 2* .798 .000 C Question 3* .775 .000 .897

COLLEGIATE CLOTHING BEHAVIOR a Question l* .815 .000 b Question 2* .864 .000 C Question 3* .855 .000 .942

*Note: Questions 1. How often do you wear this outfit to work? 2. To what extent is this outfit similar to what

you usually wear to work? 3. This is what I usually wear to work.

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