(75) Study of Sewanee Class Dress

Sewanee Class Dress is one of the carried traditions at Sewanee: The University of the South; it suggests that students dress in a nice, professional manner for class daily. This study explores if students’ participation in... [ view full abstract ]

Sewanee Class Dress is one of the carried traditions at Sewanee: The University of the South; it suggests that students dress in a nice, professional manner for class daily. This study explores if students’ participation in the tradition has an effect on their self-esteem and level of conformity to perceived social norms. 227 Sewanee undergraduates completed an online survey regarding attitudes toward Class Dress, Class Dress behaviors, self-esteem, and conformity levels. We hypothesized that students will conform to Sewanee’s social norms and expectations and lead them to uphold Class Dress. This sense of fitting in to the larger group, combined with dressing professionally, will result in higher self-esteem. Results will report on whether positive correlations between measures exist.