Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-GENERAL
Volume 136, Issue 1, Pages 154-168Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.136.1.154
Keywords
color; red; performance; avoidance; EEG
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This research focuses on the relation between color and psychological functioning, specifically, that between red and performance attainment. Red is hypothesized to impair performance on achievement tasks, because red is associated with the danger of failure in achievement contexts and evokes avoidance motivation. Four experiments demonstrate that the brief perception of red prior to an important test (e.g., an IQ test) impairs performance, and this effect appears to take place outside of participants' conscious awareness. Two further experiments establish the link between red and avoidance motivation as indicated by behavioral (i.e., task choice) and psychophysiological (i.e., cortical activation) measures. The findings suggest that care must be taken in how red is used in achievement contexts and illustrate how color can act as a subtle environmental cue that has important influences on behavior.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available