How Colors affect People
Jasmine R Carter
ITT Technical Institute

GS1140
Torregrasso
December 24, 2012 Is sex the name of your game or power the way to your fame? What do these two things have in common? One simple word: “RED”. Power, anger, love, hate, and sex. All these feelings and emotions, plus much more can be stored inside this simple word. Many may think that a color is just a color, but studies have shown that it is much more than that! It can either attract the opposite sex or repel an opponent. There has been research on the color red and two different avenues of emotion it can produce and symbolize.
The beast stampedes into the jungle and there she is, beautiful and in red. Primates such as baboons and chimpanzees display red on their bodies during ovulation. Primatologists believe that this red is a sexual signal to attract males (Dixson, 1983). This lead researchers to examine weather this red ornamentation had analog in humans. The similarity being when woman used red to display their sexual behavior to men. Research suggests that red was a visual aphrodisiac in men when viewing women (Elliot, 2008). This concept can be seen in the world around us. In the 1999 film The Matrix, the main character, Neo, is stunningly attracted to a woman wearing a red dress when in fact he should have been paying attention to another character. In other aspects of the media, music artist have recognized the significance of The Lady in Red. What about the commonly known “Red light District”, or in other words, open for business? Red is also the most common color for lipstick and is fan favorite for the sex industry. It would appear that such information would point to a common link between the color red and sex.
An eager young lady logs onto a dating website and scrolls through her potentials. Suddenly she sees a very attractive suitor; he is tall and handsome. She wants to send a profile picture to him. What color does she choose? This was one of the questions asked by researchers in the article: Dressed for Sex. Online dating is a portal to find either that special, life-long relationship or a casual one night fling. Researchers looked at these two aspects of the dating scene and sought out where red fits into the equation. Three different settings were tested where women chose between casual sex and lasting relationships. Woman who were interested in casual sex were more likely to choose between wearing black or red compared to those who wanted more than just sex. Black was chosen more often then red, however, odds of sex being on the mind of those who wore red were much greater that they were interested in more. (Elliot & Pazda, 2010). All things considered, women who choose to wear or display the color red are probably on your sex list.
A tall and confident man walks into the room where two equally beautiful and attractive women sit. One, though, stands out. She’s a beautiful blonde and she is wearing red. Two studies were conducted on men who saw multiple women and the reactions they had based on the color they wore. In the first study, where women wore red and green, men were to pick questions they would ask each woman. When the woman wore red, men asked questions on a high intimacy level more often. For example: “How can a guy get your attention at a bar?”. Alternatively, when the woman where in green, men asked lower intimacy level questions like “Where are you from”. Results showed that the men who view the woman in red frequently asked more intimate questions than the woman in green. In the second study, women in red and blue were shown to men by photograph before being introduced in person. When given the choice of where to sit with these women, men sat 155 centimeters away from the woman in red. The men sat at an average of185 centimeters away from the women in blue. All together, their research showed that color influences men’s behaviors toward woman in a romantic sense (Niesta Kayser, Elliot & Feltman, 2010). So as can be seen, woman in red can be seen as more attractive to men in any setting.
The fighter pounds into the ring, his energy is flaring. his heat is rising, and his testosterone is high. He has competed before but one thing is different this time: he sports the color RED. Researchers Russell Hill and Robert Barton of Durham University in the UK tracked the overall success of four Olympic sports: boxing, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling. They compared these results to when the players and opponents wore red. (Macleod , 2005). Of all these sports athletes, they randomly chose to wear either red or blue. Of 441 bouts, reds won 242 and in all four sports reds triumphed in more contests. Also, the red-garbed competitors had a 62% in close encounters. In pushover contests, however, the scores where almost the same. "If you're rubbish, a red shirt won't stop you from losing," Barton says. In soccer, those who wore red did significantly better than the opponents. The results showed the red teams scoring one more goal per game. Such effects could be due to instinctive behavior, says Barton. If an animal displays red in particular, it tends to vary with dominance and testosterone levels. Human competitors might experience a testosterone surge while wearing the color, Barton says, or feel submissive when facing a scarlet opponent (Macleod , 2005). Red seems to have some kind of significance in the world of power and control.
She wore red to let him know! He stood out and in control among the players in red! Researches have shown that when it comes to attraction, red can show him or her that sex is on their mind. When it comes to the playing field, red can lead an opponent to submission or a player to power. So maybe next time when someone goes out into the game they will think twice about that infamous color RED!

References:

Elliot , A., & Pazda, A. (2010). Dressed for sex: Red as a female sexual signal in humans. . 7(4), p1-5,5p.
Niesta Kayser, D., Elliot, A. J., & Feltman, R. (2010). Red and romantic behavior in men viewing women. 40(6), p901-908, 8p.
Macleod , M. (2005). Why red is the colour if winning is your game., 186(2500), p16-16, 1/3p.