One night a year , children and adults dress up in their most terrifying finery – or not so much – to commemorate Halloween . While men tend to disguise themselves as stereotypes of the horror genre, women tend to wear hypersexualized versions of nurses, babysitters or policemen but … what does our disguise say about our personality?
On Halloween, nobody cares about being judged, so we tend to free ourselves from certain taboos thanks to our costume and our mask or makeup. This feeling of confidence to embody a new character or a new more daring identity is similar to what a 2015 study carried out by Hanover College (USA) revealed about the weight of makeup in women. All of them stated that they felt more self-confident when they were wearing makeup “to go out” with friends than if they appeared almost naturally made up like a normal day.
So “ dressing up and adopting a different personality is a great way for people to work through behaviors and feelings that they are not particularly comfortable with, ” says April Masini, an expert on relationships and etiquette.
The researcher from the University of Hertfordshire (United Kingdom) Karen Pine, affirms that clothing can increase or decrease our mental processes and our perceptions, having cognitive, social and emotional consequences depending on what we wear.
In an experiment with college students, Pine found that when students were asked to wear a Superman t-shirt, it improved their impression of themselves and made them feel physically stronger.
The growing number of people who choose to dress up for Halloween is therefore a psychological rather than interesting background, which, w hen someone chooses a costume, for example, witch sexy is “because he wants to adopt an attractive personality and playful that he cannot show during a normal day ”, concludes Masini.
Your costume, your dark and creative side
Costumes are communication devices. They say something about us to others and are meant to provoke a response. Nobody (normal) wears a costume to sit alone at home. Costumes are vehicles for social connection.
Choosing and making a costume requires imagination and creativity. As a bonus, with a little creativity, these costumes can also be cheap. Another group of Halloween fans will bring out costumes that represent their favorite rock stars, athletes, and actors. Or costumes from idealized cultures, like the hippies, “Mad Men” or the Victorian era.
Like those who choose costumes as a means of creative expression, the most fanciful also hope to connect and communicate with others, but they also show us a bit of their inner fantasy life.
Which one do you identify with? Will you dress up this Halloween or do you follow the party from afar?
