Body-Field Perceptual Differentiation Related to Peer Perception of Attitudes toward Clothing

68 college women were administered individual measures of body-field perceptual differentiation and a sociogram designed to assess Ss on peer perception of attitudes toward clothing. The hypothesized relationship between body-field perceptual differentiation and attitudes toward clothing was partly confirmed. Results show a significant negative correlation between body-boundary (barrier) index and being regarded as a fashion leader. Ss characterized by a low barrier differed significantly from those with a high barrier in being considered more oriented to fashion leadership and individualism in dress. Field dependence did not relate significantly to any particular pattern of expression through clothing. It is concluded that, within the sample, fashionable and individualistic clothing serves to raise the index of adjustment by reinforcing and redefining weak body boundaries. While field dependence does not relate to a person's orientation to clothing, it may relate to the motive underlying clothing-related behavior.