Clothing, Identity, and Acculturation: The Significance of Immigrants' Clothing Choices

One of the most visible and universal ways that people express themselves is through their clothes. Clothing communicates information about an individual's personality, group membership, and even context of social situations. Research suggests that clothing is pan of a dynamic social process, linked to ethnic identity, religious identity, and self-esteem. However, psychological research examining immigrants' clothing choices remains scant. The present studies examine links between clothing preference, acculturation strategies and cultural identity among immigrants. Study 1 explored meanings and symbolism of Canadian/Western versus ethnic clothing for Chinese, Korean, and Indian immigrants (N = 15) through qualitative methodology. Participants described wearing ethnic clothing to express pride in and identification with heritage culture, while wearing Canadian clothing for practicality and to match social norms. Studies 2 and 3 surveyed Chinese, Indian, and European Canadians. Study 2 (N = 324) examined relations between ethnic identity and attitudes toward Canadian and ethnic clothing. Study 3 (N = 196) examined attitudes toward clothing (formal vs. casual) in different contexts (among peers of same or different ethnic background). Both immigrant groups reported being more likely to wear ethnic clothing among members of the same ethnicity but were otherwise more likely to wear Canadian clothing. Once social context was accounted for, there was a relation between ethnic identity and likelihood of wearing ethnic clothing. This effect was found for Chinese Canadians. Overall, our findings suggest that immigrants' clothing choices are influenced by who they interact with. Immigrants choose clothing as a dimension to manifest their values and represent their adaptation to their society of settlement.