What does your choice reveal? Explore the fascinating insights on Halloween Costume psychology behind every spooky outfit shared by Janina Steinmetz!
Every year, what we celebrate as Halloween on October 31 traces back more than 2,000 years to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of harvest season and felt like a transition period between the life of summer and nature’s death in winter.
Immigrants brought these traditions and beliefs to North America, where Halloween evolved into a secular holiday of costumes for everyone and trick-or-treat for children.
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What does the social psychology of self-presentation have to do with Halloween? We’ve known for decades that costumes and dress-up games create a sense of anonymity that allows us to indulge and let go of some of the inhibitions that we experience in everyday life (Diener and colleagues, 1976).
In a way, we feel like it’s not us that’s eating copious amounts of candy, but some other character whose reputation we don’t have to worry about; we can let go a bit. In that sense, a costume gives us a little break from our usual desire for self-presentation and making a good impression on others.
Yet, costumes can also be used for self-presentation, to make an impression on others (Goffman, 1949). Some of us dress up as alternative selves or as superheroes who express traits that we may not dare to express in our everyday lives. Someone shy might feel like dressing up as a sexy vampire to show others and themselves that this is part of their personality. Or, someone else might dress up ironically, to show that they are not part of mainstream culture but know what’s cool and trendy. These motivations are amplified by social media, where Halloween costumes are now shared with people everywhere, instead of our neighborhood party.
So far, so good. It seems that Halloween costumes are a great way for us to explore hidden sides of ourselves or make a good impression on others.
However, in my own research (Steinmetz and colleagues, 2017), I’ve explored what I call impression mismanagement, when people try to make a positive impression but fail. This typically happens when people are seen as braggy or as insincere by others. Maybe someone orders an over-the-top expensive custom for themselves or their kids to show off. Maybe someone dresses extra sexy and misses the mark at their local party. Maybe someone behaves in self-centred ways and only wants pictures of themselves. Maybe someone is phishing for compliments for their costume.
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Whenever people try to make a positive impression on others, there is room for things to go wrong. I find this particularly tragic because the intention and outcome differ so much. To make the most out of this Halloween, we can focus on connecting with others. It’s much less about how exactly you look or what impression people have of you, but more about getting together and having fun around celebrating the changes of seasons. Happy Halloween!
References
Diener, E., Fraser, S. C., Beaman, A. L., & Kelem, R. T. (1976). Effects of deindividuation variables on stealing among Halloween trick-or-treaters. Journal of personality and social psychology, 33(2), 178.
Goffman, E. (1949). Presentation of self in everyday life. American Journal of Sociology, 55(1), 6-7.
Steinmetz, J., Sezer, O., & Sedikides, C. (2017). Impression mismanagement: People as inept self-presenters. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11:e12321.
Written by Janina Steinmetz, Ph.D.
Originally appeared on Psychology Today
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