From the commonly misconstrued to the outright false, US Lacrosse Magazine goes “Myth Busters”​ mode in its September/October edition. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

We’ve heard it before. It’s an accepted truth in sports: If you look good, you’ll play “good.” Whether you’re sporting a new pair of shoes and matching socks, or throwing on a slick new jersey, your performance automatically improves.

Sounds great in theory — and we’ve all experienced a boost at some point in our playing lives — but are there facts to back up that looking good translates to anything on the field?

We spoke with Massachusetts General Hospital clinical psychologist Jonathan Jenkins, who played lacrosse at Division III Guilford College (N.C.), and he shed some light on the phenomenon. According to Jenkins, what you wear — and conversely what your opponent wears — can affect your performance on the lacrosse field.

In the world of sports psychology, the “look good, play good” idea boils down to two terms: enclothed cognition and self-efficacy. 

Enclothed cognition is the influence that clothing — what you are wearing or what someone else may be wearing — has on a person’s emotions. Clothes have a symbolic meaning, and a person can have different physical experiences with different articles of clothing.

Confused? Jenkins broke down a scenario on the lacrosse field.

“When you were playing lacrosse and you’re wearing your practice pinnie versus your game jersey, there seems to be a difference of energy for when you’re wearing that game jersey,” he said. “You’re playing the same sport and doing the same activities, but because you’re actually putting your game jersey on, you feel a little bit more hype and swagger in your step.”