Could regular swimming influence the clothes we wear?

Former Member
Former Member
I'm doing a bit of psychological research on what factors affect our choice in clothing, and an idea occurred to me. Because people tend to wear less clothing in the water, I wonder whether people who swim often tend to feel more comfortable wearing less clothing on land, too. If you frequently swim shirtless (if male, obviously) and barefoot, do you think this has caused you to feel more comfortable being shirtless or barefoot outside the water, too? As an example, let's take a male swimmer who wears standard swim trunks when swimming. This leaves almost his entire body exposed while also boosting its strength, agility, and toughness. If he swims like this regularly, I can imagine several possible changes in his behavior that he might not even be consciously aware of. 1) He might feel less self-conscious being shirtless and barefoot in public. Lots of people see him shirtless and barefoot when swimming, but do not have any unusual reaction, so this might make him feel more confident out of the water, too. 2) He might feel more comfortable doing activities while barefoot. His feet have been strengthened not just from the swimming itself, but also by walking barefoot on the hard surfaces near the water. As a result, his feet might be tough enough that he would go barefoot when feeling the ground or gripping with toes could be beneficial, or even just because he likes being barefoot. 3) He might feel more comfortable doing activities shirtless. Swimming would have considerably strengthened and toughened his torso, and made him accustomed to working with it exposed. As a result, he might be more likely to go shirtless when it is hot or when wet or muddy conditions would just cause the shirt to get in the way, or even just because he likes being shirtless. 4) He might feel less vulnerable when shirtless or barefoot. Research shows that generally, when people wear less clothing, they feel more anxious and apprehensive about possible danger, even if the clothing would barely protect them at all. Because our example swimmer is very accustomed to being shirtless and barefoot, he might feel less anxious about exploring an unfamiliar or possibly dangerous place with his torso and feet exposed. 5) He might be more aware of how much punishment his torso and feet can take and what their weaknesses are. Doing frequent activity while shirtless and barefoot would lead him to understand better how much pressure can be put on his body before it actually starts being hurt. For instance, he might be able to tell what kinds of surfaces he could walk across barefoot, and what surfaces would actually hurt his feet. Likewise, he might be better at telling whether something hitting him in the bare chest would hurt him or if it would harmlessly bounce off. Have you noticed any of these sorts of changes in your behavior since you started swimming? Thank you for helping with my research!
Parents
  • Actually, I think your study could be interesting. You just need to find a way to word your question the right way to illicit the responses you are looking for. And it may be hard to narrow it down to just psychological factors. I think it's possible you may get a different response from swimmers living in cool climates vs. warm climates. Swimming has a tendency to cool one down and especially if your hair is wet a long time after (I got out of the pool 3 hours ago and my hair is still sopping wet). So I'm colder than everyone around me and more likely to wear more clothes. If I was in Florida instead of the northeast, it's possible that I might warm up again much faster and I may not want to be lounging in yoga pants all the time but that's hard for me to know.
Reply
  • Actually, I think your study could be interesting. You just need to find a way to word your question the right way to illicit the responses you are looking for. And it may be hard to narrow it down to just psychological factors. I think it's possible you may get a different response from swimmers living in cool climates vs. warm climates. Swimming has a tendency to cool one down and especially if your hair is wet a long time after (I got out of the pool 3 hours ago and my hair is still sopping wet). So I'm colder than everyone around me and more likely to wear more clothes. If I was in Florida instead of the northeast, it's possible that I might warm up again much faster and I may not want to be lounging in yoga pants all the time but that's hard for me to know.
Children
No Data