• 대한가정학회지
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.1-20
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• 1992

The purpose of this study was to investigate(Ⅰ) the effect of a masculine-feminine image in women's suit on the perception of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the clothing for certain occupations, and (2) the effect of perceiver's sex, sex-role attitudes, and occupation on the perception formed by the function of clothing cues. The research design of the study consisted of 2(pink and navy blue colors) × 4(masculine and feminine forms) factorial design of a suit. The experimental materials developed for this study were a set of stiuli and 2 response scales. The stimuli consisted of 8 drawings of woman's clothing made by systematic manipulations of 2 independent variables(color and form) in drawings of suit. The dependent variables were the perceptions of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the masculine or feminine clothing for certain occupations. Occupational characteristics were measured with a 7-point semantic differential scale composed of 21 bipolar adjectives. Perception of ccupational suitability was assessed with 12 items of 5-point Likert type questions. In addition, the Bem Sex-role Inventory was used to assess perceiver's sex-role attitudes. The subjects consisted of 393 men and 389 women, whose occupations were classified as professionals, secondary school teachers, and white-collar workers. They were randomly assigned to one of 8 suit. The data were analyzed by factor analysis, MANOVA, ANOVA, Mean and S.D. Three factors emerged to account for the perception of occupational characteristics. These factors were given the titles of (1) activity, (2) potency, and (3) evaluation factors. The activity factor was the largest, including 9 adjectives. Differences in the form of the suit had effects on potency and evaluation for both sexes, while it also had some effect on activity for women. The color of the suit had some effect on evaluation for both sexes. Strong effects of color and form on the suit were seen in perception of occupational suitability for the occupations of attorney(masculine) and secretary(feminine). On suitability for secondary school teaching occupation, the effects of color and form of suit differed by sex of the subjects. Perceiver's sex-role attitudes and occupation paritally influenced the perception of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the clothing for certain occupations. In summary, a masculine-feminine image of clothing had a significant effect on the perception of occupational characteristics as well as on suitability of the clothing for certain occupations. Thus, the results of the study support the implicit personality theory on person perception and also the stereotypes of sex-roles on the perception of occupational suitability.