Social Stratification and Clothing behavior -A study of housewives in Seoul-

사회계층과 의복행태 -서울 시내 가정주부를 중심으로-

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not the clothing behavior of house-wives in Seoul vary depending on their socioeconomic status. The null hypotheses tested in this study were as follows: 1) There are no differences in housewives' attitudes toward the importance of clothing according to their socioeconomic status. 2) There are no differences in housewives' criteria of clothing choice according to their socioeconomic status. 3) There are no differences in housewives' clothing taste according to their socioeconomic status. 4) There are no differences in the pattern of housewives' clothing purchase according to their socioeconomic status. In order to test these null hypotheses, questionnaires on clothing behavior and socioeconomic status were distributed to a sample of 243 purposively selected housewives in Seoul, Korea. The factor analysis, correlation and analysis of variance techniques were employed for the statistical analysis of data. The results indicated that: 1) The attitudes toward the importance of clothing was related to socioeconomic status. 2) The criteria of clothing choice (aesthetics-practicality), clothing taste (individuality-conformity), and the pattern of clothing purchase (a degree of rationality) were not related to socioeconomic status. 3) The criteria of clothing selection was related to housewives' level of education. 4) Clothing taste was related to housewives' age.