A kippah
A kippahIsrael news photo: Flash 90

How much can you tell about a man by the kippa he wears? What does your kippa say about you?

Quite a bit, actually.

Pew Research Center set out to find what the different styles of kippot signal about people who wear them, and came back with some interesting results.

Kippa styles
Kippa stylesPew Research Center/Screenshot

Firstly, and most obviously, kippa styles are highly indicative of religious affiliation, the study found.

Large black kippas, often made from velvet, are most often worn by men affiliated with the haredi stream of Orthodox Judaism. But nearly a fifth (17%) if men wearing such kippot are non-haredi religious, and a further 25% are traditional.

Small black kippot more often than not are worn by non-haredi religious men, though roughly a quarter of wearers are haredi, and another quarter traditional.

Crotcheted kippot are common amongst both traditional and religious Jews, while the overwhelming majority of those without any head covering were secular, as opposed to traditional.

Interestingly, kippa style also correlates strongly with political affiliation. The strongest ideological bent among kippa styles was not among any of the styles most popular with haredi or religious men.

The strongest ideological lean came among men wearing black crocheted kippot, which are worn primarily by traditional men. Men wearing these kippot defined themselves as rightwing 70% of the time, compared to 30% who identified as centrist.