What do People Think of Their Co-Workers Who Wear Designer Clothes?
When it comes to dressing to impress at work, you might want to think twice. A new study shows people who flaunt designer duds around the office aren’t seen by their co-workers as being team players. Flaunting your Prada or Hermes might make people “appear high class,” but “it can also backfire by making them seem more self-interested.”
The study recruited 395 online participants for six different experiments. The subjects were to scan through social media profiles and choose which people they considered to be “cooperative, selfless, and generous enough to join their community.”
The experiments showed that folks wearing Old Navy or other more practical clothing were more commonly in that “trusted” category. Conversely, when participants were tasked with choosing a more “competitive” team member, those with flashier clothes in their profiles were chosen.
“This becomes a tricky balancing act for people who may want to impress others while also demonstrating that they can be a ‘team player.'”
