red's sexy effect - research findings friday

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Hey there! Nice to see you here again for another RFF. The last one was about the colour red and so is this one. I found another good study and since it's Valentine's day soon, I though I'd just keep on with the red theme. Compared to the previous RFF, this week's chosen article demonstrates that reactions to red can be different (in this case positive) depending on the context.

In this study, researchers were able to show that red leads men to view women as more attractive and sexually desirable.

You heard it ladies. You want to increase your hotness level, wear something red! 

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Here's the link to the article for those who want a more in depth read.

Elliot, A. & Niesta, D. (2008). "Romantic Red: Red Enhances Men's Attraction to Women." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5): 1150-1164.

Why red? Well, the researchers posit that the colour red for men is linked to sex and romance and that biology along with societal conditioning are responsible for this link. Please do read more about this link in the section titled Romantic Red on page 1151 of the study. It's really interesting! So because of the evidence that seems to suggest that red is linked with sexy stuff, the researchers set out to find out more. (please note, this study was conducted in a heterosexual context). 

Let's define some terms important to this study. Attractiveness in this study refers to a positive judgement regarding appearance. Sexual attraction refers to the desire to become romantically involved. Likability refers to someone's positive characteristics and is seen as independent from physical appearance (i.e. how honest, intelligent or kind a person is perceived to be).

What did they do? They devised 5 experiments to test their hypothesis that red leads men to view women as more attractive and sexually desirable. Experiment 1 looked at how men rate the physical attraction of a photo of a woman on a red vs. a white background. Experiment 2 examined whether women would rate photos of other women as more attractive on red vs. white backgrounds to see if the red effect generalized across sexes. Experiment 3 involved men rating attractiveness, sexual attraction and overall likability of photos of of women on red vs grey backgrounds (an achromatic colour). Experiment 4 was just like experiment 3 but instead of grey, they used green (a chromatic colour). Experiment 5 was the same but instead of green, they used blue and instead of looking at likability ratings, they examined behavioural intentions of the male subjects (i.e. whether they would date and be willing to spend money on the woman in question). Also, the colour presentation was switched from the background of the image to the target woman's shirt. All experiments checked to see if participants were aware of the nature of the experiments.

What did they find? Their hypothesis was supported. "The effect was observed with two different durations of color presentation, with two different types of color presentation, with four different contrast colours (both achromatic and chromatic), and with four different female targets. ...the effect was present for male but not female perceivers and was observed on perceived attractiveness, sexual attraction, and dating and spending intentions, but not on other positive variables (overall likeability, kindness, and intelligence). Participants appeared to be unaware of the red effect, despite its being of considerable magnitude." (Elliot & Niesta, 2008).


So, yes, red is sexy. Interestingly, this experiment is also implying something else. It's basically saying that men respond to women in a primitive, instinctual way. Animals! Women like to believe that men respond to women in a thoughtful, sophisticated manner ... but when it comes to sex, forget that. Not so fast though. Men are not the only culprits it seems. In primates, dominant males display more red physical characteristics (Setchell & Dixson, 2001) and females seem to be more attracted to these males (Darwin, 1874; Waitt et al., 2003). In humans, women have been found to be more attracted to dominant men (Rainville & Gallagher, 1990; Sadalla, Kenrick, & Vershure, 1987), especially during ovulation (Gangestad et al., 2004). So could it be that women would react similarly to a man associated with or wearing red? These researchers have been looking into it and so far it seems promising. The difference between men's and women's reactions to red seems to lie in the symbolic meaning of red. From a biological standpoint, red signals sexual availability to men and dominance to women. Funny creatures we are. Either way, red is HOT.

So what does this imply for interior design? Well, putting together last week's discussion and this one, we learned that the colour red can cause negative or positive reactions depending on the context. So as an interior designer, if a client wishes to incorporate a significant amount of red in their space, it is the job of the designer to think carefully about the nature of the space and about the nature of the people who will be using that space and make sure that red is used in an appropriate way. We can make generalizations about colour associations, but they are just generalizations not rules. People are unique. It's possible that to a certain person, red has calming associations - surprising, but possible. Essentially, this variability is what makes the job of designing interiors fun!

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Have a great weekend!

Xx. Holly.


References:


Darwin, C. (1874). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex (2nd ed.). London: John Murray.


Elliot, A. & Niesta, D. (2008). Romantic Red: Red Enhances Men's Attraction to Women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5): 1150-1164. 


Gangestad, S. W., Simpson, J. A., Cousins, A. J., Garver-Apgar, C. E., & Christensen, P. N. (2004). Women’s preferences for male behavioral displays change across the menstrual cycle. Psychological Science, 15, 203–207. 

Rainville, R. E., & Gallagher, J. G. (1990). Vulnerability and heterosexual
attraction. Sex Roles, 23, 25–31.

Sadalla, E. K., Kenrick, D. T., & Vershure, B. (1987). Dominance and heterosexual attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 730–738. 


Setchell, J. M., & Dixson, A. F. (2001). Circannual changes in the sec- ondary sexual adornments of semifree-ranging male and female man- drills (Mandrillus sphinx). American Journal of Primatology, 56, 9–25.


Waitt, C., Little, A. C., Wolfensohn, S., Honess, P., Brown, A. P., Buchanan-Smith, H. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2003). Evidence from rhesus macaques suggests male coloration plays a role in female primate mate choice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 270, 144–146.