The effect of red on avoidance behavior in achievement contexts.
This research tests whether the perception of red in an achievement context evokes avoidance behavior without conscious awareness and also examines the context specificity of the hypothesized red effect. In Experiment 1, participants were briefly shown red or green on the cover of an analogies test that they would ostensibly take (an achievement context) or rate on likability of (a nonachievement context) in an adjacent lab. Those shown red, relative to those shown green, knocked fewer times on the door of the adjacent lab in the achievement context; no red-green difference in knocking was observed in the nonachievement context. In Experiment 2, participants were briefly shown red, green, or gray on the cover of an IQ test that they would ostensibly take. Those shown red moved their body away from the test cover to a greater degree than did those shown green or gray. This research contributes to incipient work on color psychology and to the more established literature on the automatic link between evaluation and behavior.
Elliot
Andrew J
AJ
Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, Meliora Hall, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. andye@psych.rochester.edu
Maier
Markus A
MA
Binser
Martin J
MJ
Friedman
Ron
R
Pekrun
Reinhard
R
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D013240:Stereotyping; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation