Reflections on enclothed cognition: Commentary on Burns et al.

The main objectives of this commentary are to discuss the replication study of Adam and Galinsky (2012, Experiment 1) by Burns, Fox, Greenstein, Olbright, and Montgomery, clarify the main idea behind enclothed cognition, supplement the literature review presented by Burns et al., discuss why our original study failed to replicate, and offer potential avenues for future research. Overall, we believe the replication study was conducted competently, and thus the results cast doubt on our finding that wearing a lab coat decreases errors on the Stroop test. At the same time, Burns et al. also identify several successful conceptual replications of our original effects, and we present additional studies that support an enclothed cognition perspective. The sum total of the available data suggests that the core principle of enclothed cognition—what we wear can influence how we think, feel, and act—is generally valid.