Self-presentation through dressing behavior

This study examines clothing and clothing behavior as a form of self-presentation from sociological, psychological, and cultural perspectives, focusing on how individuals construct and communicate their identities through appearance in daily social life. The research adopted a qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with a total of 30 participants (15 men and 15 women) aged between 25 and 55. Interview data were analyzed using a data-driven analytical framework combining bigam network analysis, frequency distributions, sentiment analysis, and comparative analyses based on gender, age group, and social target audience position. This mixed qualitative-computational approach allows for the identification of both common patterns and subtle differences in how meanings related to clothing are expressed in social and demographic contexts. The study concludes that self-presentation through clothing is a multidimensional and context-dependent practice. This research, which integrates qualitative depth with computational text analysis, contributes both methodologically and theoretically to studies of clothing, identity, and self-presentation, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding how individuals use clothing to manage social belonging, emotional well-being, and self-consistency throughout their lives.