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Your Clothes Can Hack Your Brain
team aadam
November 24, 2025
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Hey everyone, hope your mind's been kind to you lately š
Hereās some useful reads to keep you sharp!
Your Clothes Can Hack Your Brain
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Your Clothes Can Hack Your Brain
As winter approaches, most of us first reach for warmth. But weāre also reaching for something else: identity.
Every morning, when we pick out our clothes, weāre making choices that reflect our feelings of comfort, self-expression, and the silent hopes we have for how we want to show up in the world.
This is where the science of enclothed cognition comes in. Behavioral scientists Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky coined the term to describe a simple but powerful idea: the clothes you wear can actually change how you think, feel, and behave.
For example, participants in one study performed better on attention tasks when wearing a lab coat described as a ādoctorās coatā rather than a āpainterās coat.ā
Clothes can influence us in three key ways.
Symbolic power: clothing activates identity. A formal suit or uniform can boost focus, perseverance, and abstract thinking. Even kids perform better at puzzles when wearing a costume that signals a particular role, like Batman.
The clothing experience: how clothes feel and fit affects posture, energy, and confidence. Your body and mind feed off each other, and clothing is an easy way to give yourself a mental boost.
Social feedback: what you wear signals to others, which loops back and changes how you see yourself. A sharp jacket or carefully chosen blouse can make you seem more competent and professional. Even shoes convey subtle cues about personality and lifestyle.
That leads us to an obvious conclusion: Dress for the person you want to become.
Lagom Picks ā
š° Research suggests rich people tend to be less kind and more selfish. Drivers in expensive cars are less likely to let pedestrians cross - and people with ādark triadā traits (selfishness, narcissism, and ruthlessness) often end up wealthy. Psychologists think this happens because these people feel disconnected from others, which makes them crave money and status.
š§® A study from the American Psychological Association (APA) found that young kids who use their fingers to count later become better at math than those who donāt. The researchers found that the strongest math students were āfinger countersā by age 7. Correlation or causation, I wonder?
š§ Saudi researcher Ahmed Al-Malki has built an AI tool that analyzes peopleās writing to identify traits like stress levels, confidence, and creativity. Itās designed to help schools and companies understand and support individuals better, while still protecting their privacy and personal data.
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