Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2025

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Outfits Serve as Symbols for Overlapping Feminine and STEM Identity Goals
Sadia Zaman1, Hanna Spychalska-Waszek1, Johannes T Doerflinger2,3
1SWPS University, Wroclaw, Poland.
Abstract:
Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) juggle between their feminine and professional identity goals. The present research views these struggles from the perspective of identity goal pursuits. Women in STEM may use different, sometimes even symbolic, ways to strive for the two identity goals, for example, by wearing outfits that reflect femininity, their profession, or both. In two studies, we tested to what extent these two goals overlap (are seen as similar) and whether the higher overlap between feminine and STEM professional identity goals is related to the preference for outfits that may serve two goals at the same time or only one of them. In Study 1 (N = 232), we found that willingness to wear an outfit serving both identity goals was positively related to the participant's identity goal overlap. Study 2 (N = 226) showed that overlap was related to the evaluation of the chosen outfits. Participants evaluating the chosen outfits as more multifinal reported higher overlap between the two identity goals.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Marcia's Theory of Identity Status
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Deindividuation

