Why Seeing Red May Lead to Failure

In Western culture, the color red can mean stop, emergency, debt or danger--and as a study published in this month's Journal of Experimental Psychology: General reveals, it can also mean failure.

Researchers exposed subjects to various hues and saturations of red before giving them four tests. It seems subjects just couldn't shake those schoolday memories of red-inked papers, performing under par and avoiding harder questions in an attempt to avoid failure.

If test takers are aware of even a hint of red, performance on a test will be affected to a significant degree, say researchers at Rochester and the University of Munich. The researchers' article in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General on the effect of red on intellectual performance reveals that color associations are so strong and embedded so deeply that people are predisposed to certain reactions when they see red.

Read more: Research on the color red shows definite impact on achievement

ABSTRACT: Color and Psychological Functioning: The Effect of Red on Performance Attainment