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Clothing and Textiles
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DOI: 10.1177/0887302X0602400104
2006 24: 46
Clothing and Textiles Rearch Journal Veena Chattaraman and Nancy Ann Rudd
Cathexis and Body Size
Preferences for Aesthetic Attributes in Clothing as a Function of Body Image, Body
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Preferences for Aesthetic Attributes in Clothing as a Function of Body Image, Body Cathexis and Body Size
Veena Chattaraman, Nancy Ann Rudd
Key Words
Aesthetics, Body Cathexis, Body Image, Body Size, Clothing Comfort
Abstract
Th is study examines the relationship between physical and psychosocial attributes of the body, and aesthetic attribute preferences in clothing. Building upon a clothing comfort model, the purpo is to determine whether women’s aesthetic respon to apparel is related to their body size, body cathexis and body image and if so, to provide insight into underlying patterns of similarity in their respon. An In-ternet survey was administered to a random sample of 199 female undergraduate students. Th e results indicated that body image and body cathexis had a negative linear relationship with aesthetic prefer-ence in styling, implying that lower body image and body cathexis correlate with preference for greater body coverage through clothing and vice versa. Body size showed a positive linear association with styl-ing preferences, implying that increa in body size correlates with preference for greater body coverage in clothing and vice versa. Th eoretical, methodological and practical implications are discusd.
N umerous rearchers have emphasized
the complex interplay between clothing
aesthetics and body attributes (DeLong, 1998; Kupfer, 1994) and have designated the body as a central element in the aesthetic experience of clothing (DeLong, 1998; DeLong & Larntz, 1980; Fiore, Moreno & Kimle, 1996; Hillestad, 1980; Rudd & Lennon, 2001). Th e relationships between the aesthetics of clothing and the physical attributes of the body have been partially examined within the textiles and clothing discipline. However, rearch-ers have propod that future rearch in aesthet-ics should move beyond the study of physical and demographic attributes aff ecting aesthetics, and address the social, psychological and cultural aspects that infl uence the aesthetic experience and apprecia-tion process (Fiore et al.). Th e rearchers clearly include the factors in their defi nition of aesthetics: “the study of human respon to the non-instrumen-tal quality of the object or event; specially, aesthetics address the activated internal process, the object or event’s multi-nsory characteristics, and the psychological and socio-cultural factors aff ecting the respons of the creator or appreciator of the object or event” (Fiore et al., 1996, p. 178). Other rearch-ers (Branson & Sweeney, 1991; Kair & Damhorst, 1991; Hillestad, 1994) have also expresd support for the argument that the study of clothing aesthetic preference, respon and experience should include the social psychological dimension.
In the study of clothing aesthetics, one such social psychological dimension that has received little empirical focus within the textiles and clothing discipline is body image. However, there exists a strong conceptual basis for such an argument as articulated by numerous rearchers (Cash, 1990; Markee, Carey & Pedern, 1990; Rudd & Len-non, 1994; 2000; 2001). Rudd and Lennon (2001) advance body image as a theoretical construct integrating aesthetics and the social psychology
of dress, two of the disciplinary components that have been deemed as primary areas within the textiles and clothing subject matter. Th ey posit
Authors’ Address: Department of Consumer Sciences, Ohio
State University, 262 Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave., Colum-
bus, OH 43210.
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46Clothing Textiles©2006 International Textile & Apparel Association
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24 #1 2006that appearance management behaviors such as the act of clothing one’s body, not only create an individual’s appearance but also provide aesthetic pleasure to the individual through the experience. Th ey also suggest that individuals u clothing in their attempt to achieve the western aesthetic ideal by emphasizing certain positive features of their bodies through their clothing, while concealing other negative features. Th us, appropriate aesthetic attributes in clothing rve as a coping strategy for individuals by allowing them to minimize the dis-crepancy between cultural beauty ideals and their perceived appearance, leading to better lf-image and stronger lf-esteem.
Th is study, then, is an outgrowth of this literature. Th e study is exploratory in nature, and us survey rearch conducted at a midwestern university to uncover any linkages between physical and social psychological attributes of the body, and aesthetic attribute preferences in clothing among female undergraduate students. Th e purpo is to deter-mine whether participants’ aesthetic respon to apparel is related to their body size, body cathexis and body image and, if so, to provide
insight into the underlying patterns of similarity in their respon. Th is insight can aid product developers in meeting the needs of the customers within dif-ferent size groups while simultaneously providing a deeper understanding of which aesthetic clothing attributes are signifi cantly related to women’s body images and body satisfaction levels.越怎么组词
Review of Literature
Aesthetic Attribute Preferences in Clothing Rearchers have consistently found and reiter-ated that aesthetic criteria are central to consum-ers’ evaluations of apparel (Eckman, Damhorst, &
Kadolph, 1990; Holbrook, 1986; Morganosky, 1984; Morganosky & Postlewait, 1989). Th e signifi cance of aesthetic qualities in clothing has been demonstrated though an exploratory study by Morganosky (1984), which measured the dollar amounts consumers were willing to spend on aesthetic and utilitarian qualities of apparel. Th e fi ndings of this study indicated that
consumers were willing to spend the most on cloth-ing items that had high aesthetic value, irrespective of their utilitarian appeal.
Another study by Morganosky and Postlewait (1989) examined the relative signifi cance of the two
main theoretical perspectives in aesthetics, namely form and expression, in the aesthetic judgments of appar-el. Th e rearchers found and articulated that form, including elements such as pleasing lines, shapes, designs and colors, was more relevant and central to the judgment of the aesthetic quality of apparel than expression, or the ‘aff ective’ value of the apparel. Using an inductive approach, Eckman, Damhorst, and Kadolph (1990) conducted a qualitative study bad on free respon interviews with women customers to determine the evaluative criteria that they ud in their purcha decisions for apparel at the point of purcha. Th eir fi ndings were consis-tent with the rearch reported earlier. Aesthetic attributes of apparel such as color/pattern, styling and fabric were the most important criteria aff ect-ing women’s decisions in apparel lection during the interest pha of their purcha. Th ey found that 55% of the respons pertained to aesthetic factors and the aspect that purchars most oft en did not like in garments was the styling, with specifi c features such as collar styles and garment lengths. Th e fi ndings also indicated that 44% of the non-purchars felt the garments made them look larger. Th is rearch suggests that the aes-thetic attribute of styling is a signifi cant criterion that women u in evaluating the aesthetics of the garment on their bodies. Bad on the preceding discussion, the current study address this specifi c attribute in its analysis of aesthetic preferences. Th e operational defi nition of this attribute is discusd in the subquent ction.Styling Attributes
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Rearchers who have analyzed consumers’ prefer-ences for stylistic features in jackets (DeLong, Kim & Larntz, 1993; Eckman, 1997; Th urston, Lennon, & Clayton, 1990; Yoo, 2003) have operationalized garment design elements uniquely bad on the specifi c purpos of their rearch. Th is goes to
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show that even within one garment style category such as a jacket, there are numerous ways to operationally defi ne aesthetic attributes related to style and shape. In the context of measurement, the studies varied bad on whether they were measuring participant preferences (e.g., judg-ments of attractiveness) for particular styles and proportions; or whether they were measuring participant perceptions of the stimulus person wearing manipulated variations of the garment style (e Table 1).
Preference-bad studies. Th e studies ud survey methodology to measure participant respons to two-dimensional, computer-generated, predomi-nantly black-and-white drawings of the stimuli (Feather, Ford, & Herr, 1996; Y oo, 2003). Feather et al. (1996) examined the uniform design
preferences of female collegiate basketball players by dividing each component of the uniform into four design features. Th e jery features included neckline, armhole, length and hemline; short features in-cluded style, vent, waistband width, and waistband style. Th e respondents indicated their preference within each design feature.
Two studies examining aesthetic preferences in women’s business jackets (Y oo, 2003) and men’s suits (Eckman, 1997) evaluated participant re-spons to stylistic elements such as jacket length, jacket silhouette, neckline drop and collar style. Eckman evaluated jacket preferences bad on eight design elements with two levels within each element, such as narrow or wide jacket silhouette, and short or long jacket length. Y oo described jack-et variations in three levels: jacket length described as short, hip-level, and tunic level; jacket silhouette described as fi tted, mi-fi tted and looly-fi tted; neckline drop described as low (waist deep), medi-um (below bust) and high (above bust); and collar style described as no lapel, notched and shawl. Perception-bad studies. Studies examining per-son-perception, bad on manipulated variations in garment design, ud experimental designs to mea-sure participant respons to manipulated stimuli in photographs (Francis & Evans, 1987; 1988;
Th urston, Lennon & Clayton, 1990). Th urston et al. studied the eff ects of variations in age, body ty
价值是什么pe and garment type on women’s professional image. Th e stimulus garments worn by the models included suits and dress which reprented three levels of fashion details: innovative, contemporary and classic.
In our study, styling attributes have been opera-tionally defi ned bad on layout features such as silhouette, garment dimensions and proportion within two garment categories, tops and bottoms. Within the category of tops, the study will mea-sure participant preferences in neckline drop, top length, sleeve length, and top silhouette. Within
Table 1. Rearch Methods in Perception and Preference Bad Studies on Styling Attributes
Preference bad studies Rearch Strategy Instrument Stimuli
DeLong, Kim & Larntz, 1993 Survey Likert-type scale Black-and-white line drawings Eckman, 1997 Survey Likert-type scale Color line drawings
Feather, Ford & Herr, 1996 Survey Likert scale and rating scale Black-and-white line drawings Y oo, 2003 Survey Likert-type scale Black-and-white CAD drawings Perception bad studies
Francis & Evans, 1987 Experiment Semantic diff erential Color photographs
(adjective
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scale)
Francis & Evans, 1988 Experiment Likert-type scale Color photographs
Rucker, Taber & Harrison, 1981 Experiment Semantic diff erential scale Black-and-white line drawings Th urston, Lennnon, & Experiment Likert-type scale Black-and-white photographs Clayton, 1990 (unipolar adjectives)
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48Clothing Textiles©2006 International Textile & Apparel Association
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24 #1 2006the category of bottoms, participant preferences in silhouettes, length, and waist level will be measured in skirts and pants.
Body Image, Body Cathexis and
Aesthetic Clothing Attribute Preferences Body image has been defi ned as the mental con-struct and perception that an individual holds of his or her body and includes subjective feelings about the body (Cash, 1990; Fallon, 1990). Ac-cording to Cash, body image leads individuals to actively manage (includes controlling and altering) the aesthetics of their physical appearance and lf-prentation through tools such as cosmetics and clothing. Rearchers have suggested that lec-tion of appropriate apparel to enhance appearance might be a coping strategy, in that it could help individuals by providing aesthetic pleasure (Rudd & Lennon, 1994), lead to higher satisfaction with their clothed body (Markee, Carey, & Pederson, 1990), and thus result in higher lf-esteem.Th e review of extant literature on aesthetics failed to reveal any published empirical study examin-ing the eff ects of body image on preferences in aesthetic attributes in clothing. However, Rudd and Lennon (2000) conducted a qualitative study to examine body image and appearance man-agement behaviors in college students bad on lf-reported ‘lived experiences.’ Th ey found that 29.5% of the respondents mentioned the u of clothing “as a strategy to camoufl age some as aspects of the
乐理是什么body …” (p. 157). Although studies dealing with body image and aesthetics were lim-ited, rearchers have investigated the relationship between body cathexis or satisfaction, a related concept to body image, and clothing (Feather, Ford & Herr, 1996; LaBat & DeLong, 1990; Mar-kee, Carey, & Pedern, 1990; Shim, Kotsiopulos, & Knoll, 1991). Body cathexis refers to “the evalu-ative dimension of body image and is defi ned as positive and negative feelings toward one’s body” (LaBat & DeLong, 1990, p. 43).
Rearchers have examined the eff ect of body cathexis on satisfaction with garment fi t (Feather, Ford & Herr, 1996; Feather, Herr & Ford, 1997;
LaBat & DeLong, 1990), which is cloly related to the shape of a garment. In a study examin-ing the relationship between the level of body cathexis and the level of satisfaction with the fi t of the garment, LaBat and DeLong (1990) found signifi cant correlations for bust, hip, thigh, but-tocks, abdomen, arm, back and shoulders. Th e fi ndings indicated that the satisfaction with the fi t of the apparel and body cathexis was positively correlated for upper, lower and total body, but the strongest correlation was for the lower body. In other words, the happier respondents were with their lower bodies, the more satisfi ed they were with garment fi t. In similar study, Feather et al. (1996) investigated the relationship between uni-form body cathexis sites and uniform fi t satisfac-tion sites;
and uniform body cathexis and uniform fi t satisfaction among female collegiate basketball players. Th is rearch also found a strong relation-ship between body cathexis and fi t satisfaction. Lower body sites such as hips, crotch of pants and buttocks, had the lowest scores for body and fi t satisfaction, whereas the upper body sites had higher body and fi t satisfaction scores. Body Size and Aesthetic Clothing Attribute Preferences
In this study, body size has been operationally de-fi ned as the ready-to-wear sizes worn by the individ-uals. Body size, a related measure of body type (Len-non, 1988) was chon as the variable of interest in this study since marketing implications can be easily drawn from size-bad results. Some of the studies cited in the earlier ction have examined the rela-tionship between body type and clothing elements such as satisfaction with garment fi t (Feather, Ford, & Herr, 1996; Feather, Herr, & Ford, 1997), and pref-erences in design (Feather, Ford, & Herr, 1996; Y oo, 2003). Feather et al. (1996) surveyed female colle-giate basketball players with regard to preference in uniform design. Th e study revealed that one design feature, baggy short style, approached signifi cance by the subjects’ body type, with subjects larger in body form showing a preference for baggy shorts. However, the fi ndings indicated that the relationship between other uniform design preferences and the players’ body form was not signifi cant.
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