Enclothed Cognition: How Certain Clothing Can Enhance Your Performance

When he was in his early twenties, Todd Herman started a sports training business in his spare time. He was having modest success, but not enough to sustain it.

Herman knew he could help people. However, he was insecure about his age and the fact that he looked even younger than he was. He was worried that no one would take him seriously.

One day he had an idea. When he was a kid, all the smart people that he knew seemed to wear glasses. As a result, he had come to equate wearing glasses with being smart and being taken seriously.

“What if I wore glasses?” he thought to himself. Maybe then people would respect him and think he was smart. As crazy as it seemed (especially since he had perfect vision), he figured it was worth a try.

So, he went to an eyeglass store and bought a pair of prescription-free glasses. Then, he started wearing them when he dealt with potential clients.

Putting on his glasses became his “Reverse Superman” move. While Superman would put on glasses to become normal, Herman started putting on glasses to transform into the strongest, most confident version of himself. ¹

And it worked.

Since then, Herman has built an extremely successful business and helped thousands of athletes, leaders, and public figures achieve incredible goals. One of the keys to his success and the success of his clients is a concept known as “enclothed cognition.”

What Is Enclothed Cognition?

“Enclothed cognition” is a term coined by psychologists Hajo Adam and Adam Galinski. I first learned about their term and research in Todd Herman’s book titled The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life.

In a 2012 series of experiments, Adam and Galinski studied the impact of wearing a lab coat. A pretest before their experiments found that people typically associate a lab coat with carefulness and attentiveness. As a result, the psychologists predicted that wearing a lab coat would lead to greater performance on tasks related to attention.

They found that attention was higher when participants wore a lab coat than when they did not. They also found that wearing a coat described as a “doctor’s coat” led to higher attention than wearing a coat described as a “painter’s coat.” Finally, they found that wearing a lab coat described as a “doctor’s coat” led to higher attention than simply seeing a lab coat that was described as a “doctor’s coat.”

The researchers concluded that the influence of your clothes depends on two independent factors: (1) the physical experience of wearing the clothes and (2) the symbolic meaning that you assign to the clothes. ²

One of My Experiences with Enclothed Cognition

For more than ten years, I taught a Sports Conditioning class on Monday nights at my local gym. When I first started teaching, I would do the entire workout with the participants, and I would sweat like crazy.

During one especially difficult class, I thought it looked ridiculous that the instructor (me) was dripping sweat all over the place. So, I decided to start wearing a headband during future classes to absorb the sweat from my forehead. Many NBA players do the same thing when they play basketball.

My headband was initially just for absorbing sweat. A funny thing happened though. When I put on a headband, I also became more confident. I thought it made me look cool.

Putting on my headband before class was like flipping a switch. I would get to the gym after work, head to the locker room and take off my work clothes, which usually included a dress shirt and tie.

Then, I would change into my workout clothes, which included a fitted sleeveless shirt and basketball shorts, with compression shorts underneath. As a last step, I would put on my headband in front of a mirror. That made my transformation from “corporate Pete” to “athlete Pete” complete.

After my transformation, I would step into my class and own the room in a confident, fun, and inspiring way. In a short period of time, my confidence soared, and my class exploded in popularity. At its peak, over 90 people were attending each class. It would have been even bigger, but space was limited at the gym.

I did not realize it at the time, but enclothed cognition was one of the factors that contributed to my confidence and success with that class. Reading The Alter Ego Effect helped me understand what was happening to me each week after I put on my headband.

How to Use Enclothed Cognition to Enhance Your Performance

Todd Herman provides many practical ideas and specific examples in The Alter Ego Effect on how to use enclothed cognition (and an alter ego) to enhance your performance in any area of your life. Here are five steps that you can follow:

1. Identify a “Field of Play” where you would like to perform even better.

A Field of Play is Herman’s term for a place related to a specific area of your life. ³ For example, one of my former Fields of Play was the gym where I taught my Sports Conditioning classes.

A Field of Play is not limited to sports and fitness though. For example, a board room is a Field of Play for an executive, a classroom is a Field of Play for a teacher, and a hospital is a Field of Play for a doctor. No matter what you do, your home is also a Field of Play for you.

Everyone has multiple Fields of Play. Choose one Field of Play to focus on first.

2. Determine how you want to behave.

After selecting a Field of Play, determine how you want to behave when you are there. ⁴ What are a few words that describe how you want to act? For example, while teaching my Sports Conditioning class at my gym, I wanted to be “confident, athletic, inspiring, and fun.”

3. Choose a symbolic item or uniform to wear.

The item or uniform that you choose should be the physical embodiment of the traits that you identified in the last step. ⁵ A headband was the perfect item (for me) to be “confident, athletic, inspiring, and fun” while teaching my Sports Conditioning class.

Here are some additional ideas from Herman on what you could wear for one of your Fields of Play. ⁶ Select one that resonates with you:

• Glasses
• Hat
• Wristband
• Bracelet
• Ring
• Necklace
• Watch
• Suit

Herman also provides some additional tips on choosing your uniform or item: ⁷

1. Choose an item that you will enjoy wearing. It should make you feel great.
2. Only wear your item while in/on your Field of Play. It will not feel special if you wear it all of the time or too often.
3. Don’t share your item or tell others about its purpose. Keep it to yourself, and it will have more power.

Whatever you choose, make sure that it holds meaning for you.

4. Select your “Activation Event.”

An Activation Event is Herman’s term for that moment when you transform yourself before stepping onto your Field of Play. ⁸ In his book, Herman uses the example of how Clark Kent steps into a phone booth to transform into Superman.

When, where, and how will you put on your uniform or item and signal to yourself that it is game time?

5. Remove your symbolic item or uniform.

After you leave your Field of Play, remove your symbolic item or uniform immediately. Do not wear it anywhere else. It is strictly intended for one Field of Play.

You can wear another item or uniform for your other Fields of Play. For example, when Herman comes home from his office, he puts on a bracelet that his daughter made for him. “Now it’s time for the fun dad to show up, not the coach, businessman, or investor,” he writes in The Alter Ego Effect. ⁹

Summary and Final Thoughts

Research has demonstrated the power of enclothed cognition. The influence of your clothes depends on two independent factors: (1) the physical experience of wearing the clothes and (2) the symbolic meaning that you assign to the clothes.

You can enhance your performance in any area of your life by following these five steps from Todd Herman:

1. Identify a “Field of Play” where you would like to perform even better.
2. Determine how you want to behave.
3. Choose a symbolic item or uniform to wear.
4. Select your “Activation Event.”
5. Remove your symbolic item or uniform.

Your clothes influence your behavior and your performance. Choose them wisely.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, check out my free 40-page eBook and newsletter below.

About the author: Pete Leibman is the Creator of StrongerHabits.com. He is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, executive recruiter, athlete, and peak performance coach. His work has been featured on Fox News, CBS Radio, and CNNMoney.com, and over 500,000 people across the world have read his articles.

References for this article

References for this article

1. Todd Herman, The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019).
2. Hajo Adam and Adam D, Galinsky, “Enclothed Cognition,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48, no. 4 (July 2012): 918-925.
3. Todd Herman, The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.