Clothing as a Nonverbal Communicator of Sexual Attitudes and Behavior

To test the hypotheses that people believe that certain kinds and styles of clothing are indicative of liberal sexual attitudes and behavior and these beliefs are correct, questionnaires were filled out by 259 subjects. These questionnaires asked each subject for the frequencies with which he wore various items and styles of clothing, his attitude toward premarital sexual relations, the number of persons with whom he had had sexual relations, the frequencies with which he believed sexually liberal men and women wore various items and styles of clothing, and the frequencies with which he felt sexually conservative men and women wore various items and styles of clothing. Correlations showed that, although subjects believed that a large number of items and styles of clothing are indicative of liberal sexual attitudes and behavior, only a few items and styles actually were associated with liberal sexual attitudes and reported behavior.