Psychology: Red enhances human performance in contests

@article{Hill2005PsychologyRE,
  title={Psychology: Red enhances human performance in contests},
  author={Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2005},
  volume={435},
  pages={293-293}
}
Red coloration is a sexually selected, testosterone-dependent signal of male quality in a variety of animals, and in some non-human species a male's dominance can be experimentally increased by attaching artificial red stimuli. Here we show that a similar effect can influence the outcome of physical contests in humans — across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning. These results indicate not only that sexual selection may… 
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352 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
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Results Citations
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352 Citations

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It is shown that the results do not replicate in an equivalent, independent dataset for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and that there is substantial variation in the fraction of wins by red across sports in both years.
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Is red an innate or learned signal of aggression and intimidation?
Red coloration has been associated with dominance and aggression in a number of animals. However, it is unclear whether the increased aggression of red individuals or the avoidance of red opponents…
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