The Influence of Dress on Students' Perceptions of Teacher Characteristics

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a female teacher's clothing style on student perceptions of teacher characteristics, including approachability, knowledge, respect, and overall acceptability. High school students were provided with photographs of a teacher model dressed in four clothing styles and were asked to select one of the photos for each of 20 statements designed to reflect teacher characteristics. Chi square results revealed differences between the clothing styles on 19 of the 20 statements.