|
|
Self-perceived influences of family, friends, and media on adolescent clothing choice.
Jeannette D. Wilson; Maureen S. MacGillivray. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, June 1998 v26 n4 p425(19)
Abstract: Adolescents make clothing choices primarily influenced by residence, ethnicity and grade. Older students paid greater attention to friends' opinions and less to parents'. African Americans were more influenced by media than whites, while whites were significantly influenced by friends. Media influences boys more strongly than girls and affects urban adolescents nearly twice as strongly as those in rural areas.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1998 Sage Publications Inc.
The self-perceived influence of parents, siblings, friends, and media on adolescent clothing choice was examined in a survey of 478 adolescents in the 6th, 9th, and 12th grades from two Midwestern school districts. Differences in self-perception of who or what has the most influence on the clothes adolescents choose to wear were examined by chi-square analysis and found to be significant for grade, ethnicity, and residence. Friend influence increased with grade, whereas parental influence decreased. Blacks were influenced most by media, whereas Whites were influenced mostly friends. Rural adolescents were influenced more by friends than were urban adolescent. Of those indicating media as most influential in their clothing choices, significant differences were found for gender, grade, ethnicity, and residence.
Findings reveal that media is the most important self-perceived influence on Black adolescents, is less influential with females, gains influence as adolescents age, and has almost twice as much influence on urban adolescents as rural. Clothing is one of the most noticeable aspects of adolescent culture and is an important means by which individual adolescents express their identities (Dienstfrey, 1982) and gain social approval (Creekmore, 1980). Ways in which adolescents use clothing have been identified in the literature, such as the use of clothing to compare themselves to peers (Laughlin, 1996) and to express solidarity with significant others and communicate self-importance (Humphrey, Klassen, Creekmore, 1971), emotion, modesty (Daters, 1990), and conformity and nonconformity (MacGillivray Wilson, 1997; Sweeney Zionts, 1989). Garbarino (1995) attributes the increasing emotional and behavioral problems among American adolescents to the "socially toxic environment" in which they develop. One manifestation of environmental influence on adolescents is evident in the clothing they choose to wear. Laughlin (1996) reviewed research addressing the physical, psychosocial, and economic well-being of adolescents and expressed the need for more research on adolescent clothing use to assist youth in coping with today's socially toxic environment. Adolescents, more than any ocher age group, and across gender lines, are especially focused on appearance (Cash, 1988). Social comparison with peers is a prominent feature of the cognitive-developmental advances of adolescence (Harter, 1990a; Maccoby, 1983).
Adolescents are sensitive to the evaluations and appraisals of significant others (Harter, 1990b) and experience social anxiety related to self-consciousness (Buss, 1985). This state of self-consciousness is directed both inward toward thoughts and feelings and outward toward actions and physical appearance (Buss, 1985). Adolescents in this culture are frequency observed to be engaged in activities in which they reveal the psychosocial need to belong and be approved by others. Elkind (1967, 1982) characterizes this egocentric concern with what "they" think as the "imaginary audience," for whom adolescents dramatize and attempt to conform to the "existence" of a large and unseen group thought to notice and care about each detail of their personas. In particular, adolescents are self-conscious and concerned about physical appearance, including various aspects of their body and clothing, and often resort to using cosmetics, hairstyles, and clothing in an attempt to camouflage real or imagined defects (Cash, Winstead, Janda, 1986). This egocentric focus on self has been found to peak in early adolescence, tapering off as the adolescent matures (Elkind Bowen, 1979; Enright, Lapsley, Shula, 1979).
The simultaneous occurrence of gender intensification and an increase in social valuing of personal status among peers encourages adolescents to conform to peers in lifestyle preferences such as music, leisure time activities, and dress (Berndt Das, 1987; Huston Alvarez, 1990). Nonetheless, adolescents seek to express their personal identities through individualized clothing choices (Dienstfrey, 1982) and often seem preoccupied with searching for self-image through experimentation with their appearance (Littrell, Damhorst, Littrell, 1990). These two contrary themes of adolescence are easily observed in the ways in which adolescents simultaneously use clothing as a statement of their own sexuality and individuality, while at the same time clothing becomes a means of denoting group membership.
The fact chat both of these themes are often attributed to one and the same clothing style highlights the ambiguous nature of adolescence and the difficulty in interpreting the meaning of outward lifestyle manifestations, such as clothing choice, through general observation. In addition, clothing itself conveys ambiguous meanings. Specific influence on adolescents' clothing choice has had little research attention. In this study conducted by scholars in family studies and apparel and textiles, the self-perceived influence of family, friends, and media on adolescent clothing choice is examined in an effort to more fully understand the role that clothing plays during adolescent development. The knowledge gained from this investigation, combined with the body of literature on adolescent clothing use, may assist scholars and practitioners in guiding adolescents as they experiment with and learn the impact chat one's appearance has in affirming expectations of self and others for anticipated behavior in social roles (Etcher Roach-Higgins, 1992).
RELEVANT LITERATURE
Family Influence In contrast to traditional conflict perspectives on parent adolescent relationships, recent studies reveal chat most adolescents manage to balance peer relationships and individuation from family, achieving social competence with a minimum of intergenerational conflict, especially if parents are generally supportive (Gecas Seff, 1990; Leigh Peterson, 1986; Offer, Ostrov, Howard, 1985; Peterson Rollins, 1987).
In general, adolescents feel positive toward and respect their parents (Atkinson, 1988; Hill, 1987). Young adolescents report family (i.e., parents and siblings) to have more importance than other relationships, including relationships with friends, although this influence diminishes in older adolescence (Furman Buhrmester, 1985). When there is conflict, it is more often centered on daily routines and issues of lifestyle, among which is clothing choice (Smetana, 1988, 1989; Thompson, 1985). Despite the fact that parents often attempt to regulate the clothing worn by their child, the actual amount of influence on adolescent clothing choice attributable to parents is not clear. In a study limited to 4-H youth in one region, Koester and May (1985) found that parental influence on clothing selection decreased with the age of the adolescent, although peer, sibling, and media influences increased with age. Peer Influence Adolescents are often stereotyped as conformists. For some time, scholars concerned with adolescence have held that peer conformity in value structure and lifestyle issues may allow adolescents to define themselves differently from adults, thus facilitating gaining independence from the family (Coleman, 1977, 1980; Hill, 1980). In answer to the question of what constitutes the determinants of prestige, adolescents frequently cite factors such as a good appearance and clothes (Coleman, 1977, 1980; Elkind, 1982).
Adolescents are generally more highly influenced by parents in matters pertaining to morals and values, education, and occupation (Richardson, Abramowitz, Asp, Petersen, 1986; Sebald, 1984), and by experienced or expert adults in matters pertaining to careers, education, and other nonsocial matters (Phelan, Yu, Davidson, 1994).
However, it is the peer group that provides adolescents with the main environment for social comparison (Festinger, 1954) involving likes and dislikes, norms and values, behaviors, and appropriate appearance. Although the tendency to be most influenced by peers varies from one historical period to another (Brown, 1990), for most contemporary adolescents there is an imperative to compare oneself to a preferred peer reference group that provides norms and standards of social success. Even when individuals are not members of the admired reference group, such comparisons are made (Montemayor, Adams, Gulotta, 1994).
Peer influence has been found to be higher in early adolescence, declining in later adolescence (Gavin Furman, 1989; Urberg Degirmencioglu, 1989). Media Influence Dramatic changes in the social, economic, and technological environments of this century have brought the public domain much closer to private domains and have affected the whole nature of the adolescent experience, including self-consciousness. The pervasive presence of the media in the lives of most American adolescents provides vast exposure to images, products, and processes that would not be available through the influences of family and friends. Harter (1990b) notes that perceived approval of peers in the public domain -- the social mirror -- is more important to the way adolescents evaluate themselves than approval of either parents or close friends. This influence was noted in a recent study (Etcher, Baizerman, Michelman, 1991) in which it was found that in the development of their own identities, average adolescents gained reference points from peers who were of extreme social types and with whom they may have had little, if any, direct contact. Media figures, who may in large part be perceived as fictive peers, often represent extreme social types. Certain media celebrities have gained great impact as ideal role models for a majority of children, being viewed even more positively than actual acquaintances (Duck, 1990).
PURPOSE
Although attributions of the importance of clothing to adolescents, general attention to adolescent clothing use, and assumptions about the source of influences on clothing choice are widespread, there has been little research on self-perceived relative influence of friends, family, and media on the clothing adolescents say they choose to wear. Similarly, little is known about demographic and environmental influences on clothing choice among adolescents. This study has a twofold purpose: (a) to compare directly which of three major influences on adolescents (family, media, and friends) has the most self-perceived influence on adolescent clothing choice, giving attention to differences in gender, grade, ethnic group, and residence (rural/urban); and then (b) using data from those adolescents who indicate media as most influential on their clothing choice, to investigate differences in the influence of several major subcategories of media (television, music video, magazines, movies, and celebrities) by gender, grade, ethnic group, and residence.
METHOD
Participants Data for this comparison study were collected in two Midwestern school districts within 45 miles of each other (one urban, one rural) serving mainly working-class and economically disadvantaged families. The participants for this study were 478 adolescents in 6th grade (n = 184), 9th grade (n = 159), and 12th grade (n = 135) representing early, middle, and late adolescence. Forty-five percent were male and 55% were female. Sixty-two percent of the participants were White, 27% Black, and 11% were other minority (mainly Hispanic, with less than .05% Native American). The number of rural and urban residents was approximately the same. Procedures Participants were administered a paper-pencil survey during homeroom time. They were given assurances of confidentiality and anonymity of their responses and informed of their right to not participate. Measures Adolescents responded to a forced choice question, "Who, or what has the most influence on the clothes you choose to wear?" Response alternatives were (1) parent(s), (2) brother/sister, (3) friends, (4) magazines, (5) movies, (6) music video, (7) television, and (8) celebrities (e.g., TV/movie star). This question is appropriate for understanding what adolescents perceive to be the most significant influence on what they would most like to wear. Such choice reflects not only influence on buying or wearing, but also on choices adolescents would make if they had free access.
As such, it gives an unrestricted view of the self-perception of what or who influences personal preferences in clothing choice. This is especially important in better understanding the choices in clothing of this lower socioeconomic sample confronted by scarce resources. For the first analysis, response categories 4 to 8 were collapsed to make a new variable labeled "media." Responses 4 to 7 are clearly focused on various types of media. The investigators presumed that any exposure these youth had to celebrities (response 8) would most likely be through the media and therefore included celebrity influence in media.
Five categories clearly are of various media and thus may be considered to be potentially confounding. However, each respondent indicated only one category as the major influence, eliminating weighting problems. This method allowed unsophisticated respondents of different ages to respond to a familiar term without having to decide what media means. The breakdown of responses is provided in this study and provides greater detail in understanding adolescent self-perception of influences on clothing choices. Overall, collapsing variables 4-8 reveals the amount of self-perceived influence of a collection of popular media and allows comparison to self-perceived influence of friends and family.
Analysis
Chi-square analysis was performed using as variables parents, friends, media, and siblings to explore their influence, as perceived by adolescents, on adolescent clothing choice across gender, grade level, ethnicity, and residence. To focus on the relative order of importance, rank order was computed for each category of adolescents by frequency tabulation. Then, data from respondents who indicated media as most influential on clothing choice (n = 114) were selected. Specific categories of the variable media (magazine, movies, music video, television, celebrities) were investigated by chi-square analysis. This revealed the level of influence on adolescent clothing choice exerted by each form of media across categories of adolescent gender, grade level, ethnicity, and residence. "Other" minority participants (11% of sample) were excluded from the examination of ethnicity differences to permit the researchers to contrast Black and White adolescents.
RESULTS
Influence of Family, Friends, and Media Findings are reported first for influence of family (parents and siblings), friends, and media on the clothing choice of adolescents according to four demographic categories (gender, grade level, race, and residence). Gender differences. Chi-square analysis did not reveal significant gender differences in most influence on adolescent clothing choice (see Table 1).
TABLE 1: Most Influence on Adolescent Clothing Choice--Chi-Square Analysis and Ranking (R) Friends Parents Media %(Rank) (Rank) % (R) Male 47.1 (1) 20.2 (2) 18.7 (3) Female 47.2 (1) 18.0 (3) 24.5 (2) 6th 33.0 (2) 35.2 (1) 21.0 (3) 9th 48.1 (1) 14.1 (3) 24.4 (2) 12th 57.3 (1) 10.7 (3) 26.0 (2) Black 26.4 (2/3)(*) 26.4 (2/3)(*) 36.8 (1) White 53.0 (1) 17.1 (2/3)(*) 17.1 (2/3)(*) Rural 53.7 (1) 16.7 (2) 16.4 (3) Urban 37.8 (1) 22.3 (3) 29.8 (2) N = 478 Siblings [chi square] %(R) Value df p Male 14.0 (4) 4.302 3 ns Female 10.3 (4) 6th 10.8 (4) 41.91 6 .000 9th 13.5 (4) 12th 6.1 (4) Black 10.4 (4) 35.78 3 .000 White 12.9 (4) Rural 13.2 (4) 22.38 3 .000 Urban 10.1 (4) N = 478 (*)
Indicates similar results for two influences on one category of adolescence. Grade differences. Among 6th, 9th, and 12th graders, there were significant differences (p = .00) in most influence on the clothing they chose to wear (see Table 1). Chi-square analysis revealed that friends were perceived as having the most influence on 12th graders (57.3%), followed by 9th graders (48.1%) and 6th graders (33%). Parents were perceived as exerting most influence on the clothing choice of more 6th graders (35.2%), with sharply diminished influence on 9th graders (14.1%) and even less influence on 12th graders (10.7%). Media influence was found to increase with grade level, such that 21.0% of 6th graders, 24.4% of 9th graders, and 26.0% of 12th graders perceived media as having the most influence on their clothing choice. Overall, friend and media influence expanded with increasing age, whereas parental and sibling influence on clothing choice decreased with increasing age.
Examination of the rank ordering (R) (see Table 1) of most influence on clothing choice of 6th graders revealed parents were perceived as most influential (R = 1), followed by friends (R = 2), media (R = 3) and siblings (R = 4). In contrast to 6th graders, both 9th and 12th graders ranked friends as most influential (R = 1), media (R = 2) in second place, parents third (R = 3), and siblings last (R = 4).
Ethnic groups. Chi-square analysis revealed significant differences (p = .000) in most influence on clothing choice between Black and White adolescents (see Table 1). Friends were perceived as influencing the clothing choices of most White adolescents (53.0%) but were much less frequently named by Black youth (26.4%). Media were attributed to be most influential by Black adolescents (36.8%), in contrast to 17.1% of White adolescents. Sibling influence hovered around 10% and was similar in both ethnic groups (i.e., Black = 10.4%, White = 12.9%). Examination of the rank order of most influence on clothing choice (see Table 1) revealed media influence to be highest for Black adolescents (R = 1), with parental and friend influences sharing the next highest ranking (R = 2/3) and siblings having the least influence (R = 4). Among
White adolescents, friend influence ranked highest (R = 1), with a similar ranking between parents and media (R = 2/3). Siblings ranked last (R = 4) in influence for both groups. Rural/urban differences. Chi-square analysis revealed significant differences in most influence on clothing choice between rural and urban adolescents (p = .000).
Friends were perceived as most influential by more rural (53.7%) than urban adolescents (37.8%) (see Table 1). Parents were indicated as most influential more often by urban adolescents (22.3%) than by rural adolescents (16.7%). Media were attributed greater influence by urban youth (29.8%) than by rural youth (16.4%). As with other analyses in this study, the influence on clothing choice attributed to siblings was smaller than other influences (rural = 13.2%, urban = 10.1%).
Examination of the rank order of these influences revealed that for rural youth friends were first in influence (R = 1), followed distantly by parents (R = 2), media (R = 3), and siblings (R = 4). Urban youth also ranked friends first (R = 1) but named media (R = 2) more frequently than parents (R = 3) and siblings (R = 4). Friends ranked highest and siblings ranked lowest in influence for both rural and urban youth.
Influence of Media
The second objective of this study was to investigate the relative influence of specific types of media on adolescent clothing choice when media were indicated as a primary influence. About 24% of the participants perceived media as most influential on clothing choice (n = 114). Chi-square analysis was performed to discover the influence of various forms of media (magazines, movies, music video, television, celebrities) on specific categories of adolescents (gender, grade, ethnicity, and residence), and the rank order was tabulated (see Table 2).
TABLE 2: Most Media Influence on Adolescent Clothing Choice--Chi-Square
Analysis and Ranking (R) Music Magazines Movies Video % (Rank) % (R) % (R) Male 18.8 (3/4)(*) 6.3 (5) 18.8 (3/4)(*) Female 45.6 (1) 2.5 (5) 19.0 (2) 6th 27.0 (2) 2.7 (5) 18.9 (3) 9th 23.7 (3) 2.6 (5) 31.6 (1) 12th 55.9 (1) 5.9 (5) 11.8 (3) Black 15.2 (4) 2.2 (5) 32.6 (1) White 49.2 (1) 4.6 (5) 6.2 (4) Rural 48.2 (1) 3.6 (5) 7.1 (4) Urban 25.4 (2) 4.2 (5) 28.2 (1) N = 114 TV(*) Celebrities [chi square] % (R) % (R) Value df p Male 33.3 (1) 22.9 (2) 11.5 4 .02 Female 16.5 (3/4)(*) 16.5 (3/4)(*) 6th 35.1 (1) 16.2 (4) 19.1 8 .01 9th 13.2 (4) 29.0 (2) 12th 17.7 (2) 8.8 (4) Black 23.9 (3) 26.1 (2) 21.4 4 .00 White 23.1 (2) 16.9 (3) Rural 25.0 (2) 16.1 (3) 12.6 4 .01 Urban 21.1 (3/4)(*) 21.1 (3/4)(*) N = 114 (*) Indicates similar influence for two forms of media on one category of adolescents.
Gender.
Chi-square analysis revealed significant differences between males and females in the amount of influence on the clothing they chose to wear (p = .02). Examination of Table 2 reveals that magazines were perceived as more influential with females (45.6%) than with males (18.8%). Music video had essentially the same amount of influence on each gender (females = 19.0%, males = 18.8%).
Each of the other media forms was selected more frequently by males. Most influence on clothing choice was attributed to movies by 6.3% of males and 2.5% of females; to television by 33.3% of males and 16.5% of females; and to celebrities by 22.9% of males and 16.5% of females (see Table 2). Of note in this analysis is the substantial influence of magazines on female clothing choice and the more substantial influence of television and celebrities on male clothing choice.
Examination of the ranked order of media influences revealed that males more often named television as most influential on clothing choice (R = 1), followed by celebrities (R = 2), with magazines and music video sharing a rank order (R = 3/4), and movies being least influential (R = 5) (see Table 2).
Females ranked magazines as most influential on clothing choices (R = 1), followed by music video (R = 2), with similar ranking of celebrities and television (R = 3/4), and movies in last place (R = 5) (see Table 2). There are distinct differences between the two most important influences on clothing choice of males and females, although both named movies as least influential. Grade. The effects of various types of media on adolescents at different grade levels were found to be significantly different (p = .01) (see Table 2).
Magazines were named as most influential on clothing choice more than twice as often by 12th graders (55.9%) as either 6th graders (27.0%) or 9th graders (23.7%). Movies were a nearly negligible influence on 6th graders' clothing choices (2.7%), slightly lower for 9th graders (2.6%), and more than doubling, but still very little on 12th graders (5.9%).
Music video influence was strongest for 9th graders (31.6%), dropping to 18.9% for 6th graders and 11.8% for 12th graders. Television influence was strongest for 6th graders (35.1%), shrinking to 13.2% for 9th graders, and increasing to 17.7% for 12th graders.
Celebrities provided the most influence on clothing choice for more 9th graders (29.0%), up from 16.2% in 6th grade. Celebrity influence was cited less frequently by 12th-grade students (8.8%).
No sequential trend is observed, but the importance of magazine influence on 12th graders is dramatically higher than any other influence. At each grade level, a different strongest influence on clothing choice was identified (i.e., 6th grade = television, 9th grade = music video, 12th grade = magazines). Movies were least influential on the clothing choice of students in all grades.
When the ranking of media influences was examined by grade level, television was identified most often by 6th graders (R = 1), followed by magazines (R = 2), music video (R = 3), and celebrities (R = 4), and trailed by movies (R = 5). More 9th graders indicated music video as influential (R = 1), followed closely by celebrities (R = 2), magazines (R = 3), television (R = 4), and movies (R = 5). Twelfth graders ranked media as follows: magazines (R = 1), television (R = 2), music video (R = 3), celebrities (R = 4), and movies (R = 5). Ninth graders ranked media influences quite differently from 6th and 12th graders, attributing the two highest amounts of influence to music video and celebrities, in contrast to 6th and 12th graders, who attributed the two highest amounts of influence to magazines and television, albeit in reverse order (see Table 2).
Ethnic groups. Analysis of ethnic differences in media influences on clothing choice revealed significant differences between Black and White adolescents (p = .00) (see Table 2). Magazines were perceived as most influential on clothing choice for nearly half of White adolescents (49.2%) and 15.2% of Black adolescents. Music video was found to be most influential on clothing choice for nearly one third of Black (32.6%) and only 6.2% of White adolescents. Analysis revealed the influence of television to be similar on both ethnic groups (Black = 23.9%, White = 23.1%). Celebrities were cited as most influential in clothing choice for 26.1% of Black and 16.9% of White youth. There was little influence on either ethnic group from movies (Black = 2.2%, White = 4.6%). Examination of Table 2 indicates that music video ranks highest (R = 1) for Black youth on influence of clothing choice, followed by celebrities (R = 2), television (R = 3), magazines (R = 4), and movies (R = 5). White youth ranked magazines highest (R = 1), followed by television (R = 2), celebrities (R = 3), music video (R = 4), and movies (R = 5). With the exception of movies, the rank order of specific media influences is different for Black and White adolescents.
Magazines rank highest and music video ranks lowest in influence on the clothing choices of White adolescents; music video ranks highest and magazines rank lowest in influence for Black adolescents. Residence. Chi-square analysis revealed significant differences in perceived influences on clothing choice between rural and urban adolescents (p = .01). Almost half of rural youth were most influenced by magazines (48.2%), as contrasted to approximately one quarter of urban youth (25.4%).
Music video was influential with four times as many urban youth (28.2%) as rural youth (7.1%), whereas television influenced the clothing choices of similar numbers of youth in both areas of residence (urban = 21.1%, rural = 25.0%).
Movies were found to be of little influence on either rural (3.6%) or urban (4.2%) adolescent clothing choice (see Table 2). When the rank order of most influence on clothing choice was examined according to residence, rural youth attributed most influence to magazines (R = 1), followed by television (R = 2), celebrities (R = 3), music video (R = 4), and movies (R = 5). Urban youth assigned most importance to music video (R = 1), magazines (R = 2), an equal rank to television and celebrities (R = 3/4), and least to movies (R = 5) (see Table 2). Overall, movies exerted a very small amount of influence on the clothing choices of adolescents in any category. The influence of other forms of media varied widely according to the category of adolescents under examination.
DISCUSSION
Similar to more general findings of Koester and May (1985), the findings of this study confirmed that friend influence on the clothing adolescents choose to wear expands with increasing age, and parental influence declines with increasing age. It is likely that as youth increasingly seek to individuate, conforming to peer standards in clothing' provides a way of demonstrating independence from family and showing solidarity with friends. It is not surprising that parents were named as the most important influence on clothing only by the youngest group, given that 6th graders may have less control over purchases of clothing because they are not employed, have less experience in clothing selection than older cohorts, probably shop for clothing in the company of their parents or under parental guidelines, and are more likely to be the object of unsolicited advice from family on their appearance management. The pattern of increasing media influence at subsequent grade levels is one confirmation of expanding horns as adolescents seek t distance themselves from the familiar constraints of family and to go beyond the influence of friends.
Experimentation with personal appearance through clothing choice, rather than altering body image through such means as piercing, tattooing, or alteration of hairstyle and color, provides a relatively risk-free, low cost, temporary way of claiming a stake in a larger and admired fictive peer group represented by celebrities and media figures. If the adolescent does not like the effect, he or she is not committed to maintaining the appearance and can simply change the clothing style. Although influence on clothing choice was attributed least often to siblings (around 10% in most categories of adolescence), males, rural adolescents, and 9th graders attributed slightly more influence to siblings. Older siblings, in particular, may serve as models of social behaviors (Getting, 1986), although this study does not specify whether the siblings are older or younger. Ninth graders face the grade transition into the unknown (high school), such that sibling advice would be comforting.
The more restricted diversity of rural peer groups may cause adolescents to turn to siblings, as known and trusted advocates, for advice on appearance management. In these instances, a case can be made for relative inexperience with appearance management as an incentive to follow sibling advice. That the clothing choices of urban youth were found to be less influenced by friends than rural youth is consistent with findings that showed urban youth to be less conforming in their clothing use (MacGillivray ]Wilson, 1997).
Perhaps urban youth are less influenced by friends because there is a wider variety of other influences in their near environment. Pressure to conform to peer standards in clothing would be less intense when there are alternate standards of dress from which to choose and when peers exhibit more variety in appearance management. In this context, family and media influence may provide attractive alternate influences from those of peers.
The most interesting findings of this portion of the study may be that media rank as the most important self-perceived influence on clothing choice of only Black adolescents (with whom it is twice as influential as for White adolescents), is less influential with females than males, gains influence as adolescents become older, and has nearly double the influence on urban as rural adolescent clothing choice (see Table 1).
This finding suggests White youth are more accepting of the clothing standards of intimate others in the immediate environment, whereas a substantial number of Black adolescents look for guidance on appearance management from those with whom they have no actual contact and who may often represent extreme social types.
Wearing fashions that replicate those worn by celebrities on television and music videos may allow minority group adolescents to enjoy the enhanced reputation and leadership potential attributed by peers to extreme social types and to anticipate being admired by other adolescents. Furthermore, the media most likely bring the African American aesthetic of dress (O'Neal, 1997) much closer to the private domain of the Black youth from working-class families in this study and, as such, may be used as a reference for emulating their cultural preferences that differ from the mainstream. Interestingly, television is equally influential on Black and White adolescent clothing choice, but music video and celebrities are much more powerful influences on Black than White clothing choices (see Table 2).
The popularity of Black celebrities and their prominence in music videos may be an incentive for Black youth to emulate their particular types of clothing. It is noteworthy that younger adolescents (whose television or video viewing may be more closely supervised by parents) and males indicate more influence on clothing choice from television than from any other media form. In contrast to movies, television reveals the current everyday appearance of large numbers of other adolescents in the "global village." Younger adolescents and male adolescents perceive from their television viewing that youth around the world, as well as many celebrities and men in important positions, tend to dress similarly in Western garb. This is affirming of their own self-image.
On the other hand, female adolescents are confronted by a wider variety of appearances, which may cause them to examine the images presented by other media more carefully when making choices. Overall, although television provides a substantial influence on adolescent clothing choice, it is not overwhelming (see Table 2).
The stronger attribution of influence on clothing choice to music video and celebrities by both Black adolescents and 9th graders may be related to the difficult quest for social identity experienced in middle adolescence and by Black youth. Experimentation, whether real or vicarious, is important for adolescents in the creation of an acceptable self-image and clothing offers a tangible vehicle for such experimentation. The choice of magazines as most influential on clothing choice by approximately half (see Table 2) of youth who are older, female, White, and rural was unexpected.
This finding suggests these adolescents may base their clothing selection on detailed analysis more than on fleeting impressions available on video or television and are not as easily impressed by what celebrities wear. One purpose of looking at magazines is to become aware of the available fashions and details of contemporary appearance management and to critique the details of the still images presented by that medium. Costs, flexibility of uses, appropriateness to the wearer, and other factors are easier to analyze when the reference can be accessed carefully and repeatedly. The more limited choices in male clothing and accessories (MacGillivray ]Wilson, 1997) would be expected to promote less interest in careful studying of clothing details.
Possibly, magazines provide examples of dress-for-success work clothing to older adolescent females who are becoming anxious about careers. It is also possible that the images portrayed in magazines provide desired information about appearance management in a variety of recreational or work activities with which many more isolated rural adolescents are unfamiliar. With few exceptions, magazines still feature White teenage models, so Black females may simply be less interested in the appearances they portray. The unexpected finding that magazines--a print medium, not audiovisual--provide approximately half of the media influence on adolescent clothing choice is an important contribution of this study. Implications There are always problems in generalizability in nonrandom samples such as the one used for this study.
Although such limitations are unfortunate, this study was designed to sample the self-perception of influences on clothing choice among adolescents from both rural and urban lower-middle-class and poor families. The gender, class, and ethnic group comparisons in this study are especially valuable because of the comparison across urban and rural residences. Care should be taken in applying these findings across other less specific groups of adolescent categories. Although practitioners find it useful to acknowledge the role that the media play in adolescent development, this study indicates that for working-class and lower-middle-class youth, media are not perceived to be as important an influence on appearance management as are friends, and in the case of young adolescents, parents.
Only Black adolescents perceive that their clothing choices are influenced more by media than by family or friends. Teachers, counselors, and other youth workers who are sensitive to the important, but secondary, nature of this influence are in a better position to encourage reasonable adaptation of media influence on clothing choices in the most susceptible groups (i.e., older youth, females, urban residents, and Blacks).
Providing opportunities for adolescents to express their choices in constructive ways will be especially helpful to youth in these groups. Audiovisual media and print media are each perceived to be most influential on the clothing choice of different categories of adolescents. Attempts to influence those choices should take into account the nature of the adolescent group, and for mixed groups, provide both audiovisual and print media. Professionals engaged in producing magazines and audiovisual material for adolescents should carefully consider the influence their work may have on adolescent clothing choice.
This study suggests that the movement toward regulating clothing worn in school to avoid extremes of dress may be accomplished more easily if both intimate others and media representations are supportive of the prescribed choices. Parents and youth advisers are encouraged to discuss with adolescents the important role that appearance and dress plays in their lives. The impact of one's appearance on interactions with others can be explored by role-playing, with mentors offering guidance and practice. Results from this study, however, indicate that more success with this venture should be expected in rural areas with predominantly White students and among older rather than younger students. This research adds to the current body of knowledge on adolescents and clothing use by documenting the relative influence of parents, siblings, friends, and media on the self-perception of adolescents regarding clothing choice. Further research is warranted with adolescents from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds to gain a more complete understanding of the self-perception of significant influence on adolescent clothing choice. Such research could be extended to examine self-perceptions versus actual clothing choice because there is a research literature that demonstrates that people tend to be inaccurate at reporting what influences them (Kraut ]Lewis, 1982; Nisbett ]Wilson, 1977).
Further study by clothing researchers could address the questions of how available clothing choices are, or may be, readily adapted to meet the self-perceived influences of intimate others and media. This last suggestion presents an education and marketing opportunity for those working with economically disadvantaged adolescents whose self-perceived needs in clothing choices may be thwarted by limited resources.
REFERENCES Atkinson, R. (1988). Respectful, dutiful, teenagers. Psychology Today, 22, 22-26. Berndt, T. J., ]
Das, R. (1987). Effects of popularity and friendship on perceptions. Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, 429-439. Brown, B. (1990).
Peer groups. In S. Feldman ]G. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 171-196). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Buss, A. H. (1985).
Self consciousness and appearance. In J. A. Graham ]A. M. Kligman (Eds.), The psychology of cosmetic treatments (pp. 125-132).
New York: Praeger Scientific. Cash, T. F. (1988). The psychology of cosmetics: A research bibliography. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 66, 455-460. Cash, T. F., Winstead, B., ]Janda, L. H. (1986).
The great American shape-up: Body image survey report. Psychology Today, 126, 305-316. Coleman, J. (1977).
Adolescents and their parents: A study of attitudes. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 130, 239-245. Coleman, J. C. (1980).
Friendship and the peer group in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 171-209).
New York: John Wiley ]Sons. Creekmore, A. M. (1980).
Clothing and personal attractiveness of adolescents related to conformity to clothing mode, peer acceptance, and leadership potential. Home Economics Research Journal 8, 203-215. Daters, C. M. (1990).
Importance of clothing and self esteem among adolescents. Clothing and Textile Research Journal, 8(3), 45-50. Dienstfrey, H. (1982).
Clothes power. Psychology Today, 16, 68-73. Duck, J. (1990).
Children's ideals: The role of real-life vs. media figures. Australian Journal of Psychology, 42(1), 19-29. Eicher, J. B., Baizerman, S., ]Michelman, J. (1991).
Adolescent dress: A qualitative study of suburban high school students. Adolescence, 26, 679-686. Eicher, J. B., ]Roach-Higgins, M. E. (1992).
Definition and classification of dress. In R. Barnes ]J. B. Eicher (Eds.), Dress and gender (pp. 8-28). Providence, RI: Berg. Elkind, D. (1967).
Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1034. Elkind, D. (1982). The hurried child. New York: Addison-Wesley. Elkind, D., ]Bowen, M. (1979).
Imaginary audience, behavior in children and adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 15, 38-44. Enright, R., Lapsley, D., ]Shula, D. (1979).
Adolescent egocentrism in early and late adolescence. Adolescence, 14, 687-695. Festinger, L. (1954).
A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117-140. Furman, W., ]Buhrmester, D. (1985).
Children's perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1016-1024. Garbarino, J. (1995).
Raising children in a socially toxic environment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Gavin, L. A., ]Furman, W. (1989).
Age differences in adolescent's perceptions of their peer groups. Developmental Psychology, 25, 827-834. Gecas, V., ]Seff, M. (1990).
Social class and self esteem: Psychological centrality, compensation, and the relative effects of work and home. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53(2), 165-173. Getting, A. (1986).
The developmental tasks of sibling ship over the life cycle. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 703-714. Harter, S. (1990a).
Issues in the development of self-concept of children and adolescents. In A. LaGreca (Ed.), Through the eyes of a child (pp. 139-166). Boston: Allyn ]Bacon. Harter, S. (1990b).
Processes underlying adolescent self-concept formation. In R. Montemayor, G. Adams, ]T. Gullotta (Eds.), From childhood to adolescence: A transitional period? (pp. 205-239). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Hill, J. (1980).
The family. In M. Johnson (Ed.), Toward adolescence: The middle school years (pp. 137-164). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hill, J. (1987).
Research on adolescents and their families: Past and prospect In W. Damon (Ed.), New directions in child psychology (pp. 13-31). San Francisco: Jossey-Boss. Humphrey, C., Klassen, M., ]Creekmore, A. M. (1971).
Clothing and self-concept of adolescents. Journal of Home Economics, 63, 246-250. Huston, A. C., ]Alvarez, M. M. (1990).
The socialization context of gender role development in early adolescence. In R. Montemayor, G. Adams, ]T. Gullotta (Eds.), From childhood to adolescence: A transitional period? (pp. 156-182). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Koester, A. W., ]May, J. K. (1985).
Profiles of adolescents' clothing practices: Purchase, daily selection, and care. Adolescence, 20, 97-113. Kraut, R.E., ]Lewis, S. H. (1982).
Person perception and self-awareness: Knowledge of influences on one's own judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 448-460. Laughlin, J. (1996). Textiles and clothing researchers response to Garbarino's "socially toxic environment." Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 88(3), 60-63. Leigh, G. K., ]Peterson, G. W. (1986).
Adolescents in families. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Press. Littrell, M. A., Damhorst, M. L., ]Littrell, J. M. (1990).
Clothing interests, body satisfaction, and eating behavior of adolescent females: Related or independent dimensions? Adolescence, 25, 77-95. Maccoby, E. E. (1983).
Socio-emotional development and response to stressors. In N. Garazy ]M. Rutter (Eds.), Stress, coping and development in children (pp. 123-157).
New York: McGraw-Hill. MacGillivray, M. S., ]Wilson, J. D. (1997).
Clothing and appearance among early, middle and late adolescents. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 15, 43-49. Montemayor, R., Adams, C. R., ]Gullotta, T. P. (1994).
Personal relationships during adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Nisbett, R., ]Wilson, T. (1977).
Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231-259. Offer, D. O., Ostrov, E., ]Howard, K. (1985).
Patterns of adolescent self-image. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. O'Neal G. (1997). African-American aesthetics of dress. In A. M. Fiore ]P. A. Kimle (Eds.), Understanding aesthetics for the merchandising and design professional. New York: Fairchild Publications. Peterson G. W., ]Rollins, B. C. (1987).
]Parent child socialization. In M. B. Sussman S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Handbook of marriage and the family (pp. 472-507).
New York: Plenum. Phelan, P., Yu, H. C., Davidson, A. I. (1994).
Navigating the psycho social pressures of adolescence: The voices and experiences of high school youth. American Education Research Journal, 31, 415-447. Richardson, R., Abramowitz, R., Asp, C., Petersen, A. (1986).
Parent-child relationships in early adolescence: Effects of family structure. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 805-812. Sebald, H. (1984).
Adolescence: A social psychological analysis (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Smetana, J. (1988).
Concepts of self and social convention Adolescents' and parents' reasoning about hypothetical and actual family conflicts. In M. Gunar (Ed.), 21st Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (pp. 79-122). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Smetana, J. (1989).
Adolescents' and parents' conceptions of parental authority. Child Development, 59, 321-335. Sweeney, M., Zionts, P. (1989).
The "second skin": Perceptions of disturbed and non-disturbed early adolescents on clothing, self concept, and body image. Adolescence, 24, 411-420. Thompson, D. L. (1985).
Parent peer compliance in a group of pre-adolescent youth. Adolescence, 20, 501-508. Urberg, K A., Degirmencioglu, S. (1989).
Peer influence on adolescent values. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas City, MO.