INFLUENCING PERCEPTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S AGGRESSIVENESS AND RESPECTABILITY

The article is focused on the influence of black coloured clothing and situational context on impression formation. We examined whether individuals are evaluated as more aggressive (1) when they are wearing black clothing, (2) in an aggressive situational context. Furthermore, we examined whether individuals are evaluated as more respectable (1) when they are wearing black clothing (2) in more respectable situational context. The sample consisted of 475 high school students who assessed individuals displayed in computer-modified photographs wearing randomly chosen colours in randomly chosen contexts. We show that men unlike women are evaluated as more aggressive when wearing the colour black. Black coloured clothing does not have influence on the assessment of one’s respectability. Both men and women are evaluated as more aggressive in aggressive situational contexts and also as more respectable in more respectable situational contexts regardless of the colour of their clothing.