A new study from the University of Maryland in the US has discovered that seeing more of a person's skin significantly changes the way we think of them — for both women and men.
The research found that when we see someone wearing revealing clothing we automatically assume they are less competent than their covered-up counterparts.
"In six studies we show that taking off a sweater, or otherwise revealing flesh, can significantly change the way someone's intelligence is perceived," Professor Kurt Gray from the University of Maryland explained.
The study also defined two different mind-sets we attribute according to how much clothing a person wears: 'experience' or 'agency'.
'Agency' is the capacity to plan, act and exert self-control, while on the other end of the spectrum 'experience' is the capacity to feel emotions, pain and pleasure.
"Those who are characterised in terms of their bodies were to be seen as more reactive and emotional; traits that may also serve to work against career advancement," Professor Gray says of the study.
However, before you go reaching for that turtle-neck jumper, Professor Gray also discovered those who are likened with 'experience' are seen as sensitive, empathetic and in need of protection from harm.
"Others appear to be less inclined to harm people with bare skin and more inclined to protect them," Professor Gray said. "People without clothes are not seen as mindless objects, but they are instead attributed a different kind of mind."
Perhaps we now have an explanation as to why we would rather ask Zooey Deschanel for advice rather than Snooki.
HOME