In a study by the Kellogg School of Management,2 researchers found that it’s not just about what you wear, but also whether you understand what its “symbolic meaning” is. The study looked at the effects of a white coat on students’ attention and accuracy. The researchers found that: Attention did not increase when the coat was not worn or was associated with a painter. Attention only increased when the coat was a) worn and b) associated with a doctor. The influence of clothes depends on wearing them and their symbolic meaning. So basically, if you thought the coat was a painter’s coat, nothing changed. The moment you put on a doctor’s coat, your attention and accuracy improved. This phenomenon is called “enclothed cognition.” Enclothed cognition only happens when you understand the “symbolic meaning” of the item and the “psychological experience of wearing the item which constantly reminds you of what the item represents.”3 So in the experiment, the symbolic power of the white coat changed depending on what you were told it represents. The painter or artist’s smock makes you more artistic. The doctor’s coat makes you more attentive. And the lab coat makes you more careful. (We wouldn’t want you blowing up the lab, now, would we?!)