Dress sexy, look brainy?

Published May 3, 2016

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London - Sexy clothing can make women appear more intelligent and more likely to be faithful, a study found.

The research contrasts with previous studies that found ‘sexualised’ clothing has the opposite effects.

Rachael Worrell and Alfredo Gaitan of the University of Bedfordshire believe their study shows stereotypes about women may be changing.

They showed 64 undergraduates, average age 21, photographs of a fashion model in her 30s wearing a low-cut top, a jacket, and very short skirt, and also with the skirt longer and the top covering more flesh.

The students ranked her for intelligence, faithfulness, personality, morality, intention to have sex and perceived job status.

The researchers, whose findings were presented at the British Psychological Society’s conference in Nottingham, said: ‘Contrary to our predictions it was the sexualised clothing which resulted in higher intelligence and faithfulness ratings.’

The woman’s clothing had no significant effect on how she was ranked for the other traits.

Dr Gaitan said: ‘Have attitudes changed so much that people are not making negative judgments based on a woman’s dress? We think there are still negative attitudes out there, but perhaps people are seeing the sexy look more positively.’

Daily Mail

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