While doing some research for my book, I came across a fun and interesting article* in the highly respected Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. I've been meaning to write about the results for a while, but kept forgetting. So here's the study in a nutshell...
The authors (psychologists) were interested in examining whether the colour red can influence men's perception of the physical attractiveness of women. The authors postulated that red might be associated with attractiveness and sexuality for cultural and perhaps even biological reasons. For example, red and sex have been paired throughout history by various cultural means (ex: red body paint was used in early human fertility rituals; books like The Scarlett Letter; songs like Lady in Red). Biologically speaking, the erotic areas of a woman's body tend to have red colouration (ex: genitals; nipples). Due to the repeated association of red and sex, it is possible that this colour affects how men see women. So, the main hypothesis to be tested was this - do men find women more sexually attractive in the context of the colour red.
Across a series of 5 experiments the psychologists found consistent proof for their hypothesis. In each experiment, they had men (and in one experiment, women) look at a photo of a woman who could be described as "moderate" in terms of level of attractiveness. There tended to be two conditions:
(1) the area outside of the photo had a red background
(2) the area outside of the photo had a non-red background. These different colors were varied across experiments, and included white, gray, green and blue.
The overall findings suggest several things:
(1) Men find women more physically attractive AND sexually desirable when the woman is somehow associated with the colour red.
(2) Men do not seem to be aware that red is influencing their perception.
(3) The colour red does not seem to influence other positive things, such as likeability or intelligence. Thus, the colour red seems to be specific to attractiveness and sexuality.
(4) Women do not consider other women more attractive in the context of red. This is an effect that is specific to men.
(5) The effect was subtle. Something as simple as the red background of a picture was sufficient to shift the perceptions and attitudes of men.
The implications of this research are obvious: if women want to appear more attractive and even sexually desirable, add red to the outfit. And ladies, you don't have to cover yourselves in a bright red dress. It appears that simply associating your bodies with red in some manner (ex: red accessories) is sufficient to create some effect.
*Elliot & Niesta (2008). Romantic red: Red enhances men's attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1150-1164.
The authors (psychologists) were interested in examining whether the colour red can influence men's perception of the physical attractiveness of women. The authors postulated that red might be associated with attractiveness and sexuality for cultural and perhaps even biological reasons. For example, red and sex have been paired throughout history by various cultural means (ex: red body paint was used in early human fertility rituals; books like The Scarlett Letter; songs like Lady in Red). Biologically speaking, the erotic areas of a woman's body tend to have red colouration (ex: genitals; nipples). Due to the repeated association of red and sex, it is possible that this colour affects how men see women. So, the main hypothesis to be tested was this - do men find women more sexually attractive in the context of the colour red.
Across a series of 5 experiments the psychologists found consistent proof for their hypothesis. In each experiment, they had men (and in one experiment, women) look at a photo of a woman who could be described as "moderate" in terms of level of attractiveness. There tended to be two conditions:
(1) the area outside of the photo had a red background
(2) the area outside of the photo had a non-red background. These different colors were varied across experiments, and included white, gray, green and blue.
The overall findings suggest several things:
(1) Men find women more physically attractive AND sexually desirable when the woman is somehow associated with the colour red.
(2) Men do not seem to be aware that red is influencing their perception.
(3) The colour red does not seem to influence other positive things, such as likeability or intelligence. Thus, the colour red seems to be specific to attractiveness and sexuality.
(4) Women do not consider other women more attractive in the context of red. This is an effect that is specific to men.
(5) The effect was subtle. Something as simple as the red background of a picture was sufficient to shift the perceptions and attitudes of men.
The implications of this research are obvious: if women want to appear more attractive and even sexually desirable, add red to the outfit. And ladies, you don't have to cover yourselves in a bright red dress. It appears that simply associating your bodies with red in some manner (ex: red accessories) is sufficient to create some effect.
*Elliot & Niesta (2008). Romantic red: Red enhances men's attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1150-1164.
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