Social Values, Conformity, and Dress

This study examined the influence of social values on the importance of various clothing features. A model is hypothesized in which social values lead to differing needs for group identification, affiliation, and conformity, which influence clothing feature importance. In general, social values are associated with a high need for affiliation and group identification, conformity, and a greater emphasis on both the utilitarian and the display aspects of clothing (style and brand name).