Distinguishing between Perceiver and Wearer Effects in Clothing Color-Associated Attributions

Roberts, S. Craig; Owen, Roy C.; Havlı́ček, Jan

doi:10.1177/147470491000800304

Cited by 117 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…Even if the effect occurs in real life, we cannot conclude that it is based on the same processes as the effect found here in the lab. Wearing formal apparel, for instance, might change the wearer's feeling and manner, which will further influence the way observers perceive him ("wearer effect"; with regard to color-associated impacts a wearer effect was shown by Roberts, Owen, & Havlicek, 2010). Using static stimuli with an a posteriori color manipulation, as we did in the present research, does not allow for the reproduction of such processes; the effect of apparel style that we found in the lab must ipso facto be based on something else.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men in red: A reexamination of the red-attractiveness effect

2015

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Elliot, Kayser, Greitemeyer, Lichtenfeld, Gramzow, Maier, and Liu (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139(3), [399][400][401][402][403][404][405][406][407][408][409][410][411][412][413][414][415][416][417] 2010) showed that presenting men in front of a red background or with a red shirt enhances their attractiveness, sexual desirability, and status in the eyes of female observers. The purpose of the present research was to gain further insights concerning the robustness and the ecological validity of this red effect. In two experiments, we replicated the basic paradigm used by Elliot et al. Experiment 1 was a close replication of the first experiment in their original series. We presented the photo of a young man used by Elliot et al. on either a red or white background and asked participants (N = 89, female subsample n = 72) to rate it with regard to perceived attractiveness. Experiment 2 (N = 32) represents a somewhat more complex version of the first experiment; we increased the variance of the stimuli by showing photos of multiple men wearing different apparel styles (formal and casual, respectively). We did not find any significant impact of red in either of the studies. What we found, however, was a significant effect of apparel style with attractiveness ratings being higher for men wearing formal apparel than for men wearing casual apparel. Our results question the robustness and the ecological validity of Elliot et al.'s finding. On a more general level, they further point to limitations arising from (often necessary) restrictions in experimental designs.Keywords Replication . Color . Attractiveness . Red effect . Status Elliot et al. (2010) presented a series of experiments suggesting that the color red enhances male attractiveness and sexual desirability as perceived by women. They further presented evidence suggesting that this effect is mediated by an increase in perceived status. Basically, all seven experiments reported by Elliot et al. followed the same between-subjects design. Participants viewed the photo of a male target person whom they had to judge with regard to different variables, such as "perceived attractiveness," "sexual attraction," and "perceived status" (original variable labels used by Elliot et al.). The color of the background (Experiments 1-3) or the depicted man's shirt (Experiments 4-7), respectively, was manipulated as being either red or a contrasting color, e.g., white (see Table 1 for further details on the specific experiments). An enhancing effect of red was found in five of five experiments for perceived attractiveness and in three of three experiments for sexual attraction (note: in some experiments, more than one dependent variable was used). The mediation of the red effect via an increase in status could be further demonstrated in all three experiments where this variable was addressed via two different approaches: 1) the experimental-causal-chain approach, and 2) the measurement-of-mediation approach.The accumulated results of Elliot et al. (2010)...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men in red: A reexamination of the red-attractiveness effect

2015

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“…Some work exists that examines the effect of red on women's perceptions of men's attractiveness (Elliot et al, 2010;Roberts et al, 2010), although research in this direction is less common, and a parallel effect is not always observed Hesslinger, Goldbach, & Carbon, 2015) 1 . The effect of red on ratings of women's attractiveness may be more robust because ratings of men's attractiveness are more likely to be moderated by the targets' emotion expression, women's conception risk, and perceptions of aggression or anger (Buechner, Maier, Lichtenfeld, & Elliot, 2015;Prokop, Pazda, & Elliot, 2015;Stephen, Oldham, Perrett, & Barton, 2012;Young, Elliot, Feltman, & Ambady, 2013).…”

Section: Facial Redness Increases Men's Perceived Healthiness and Attmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facial Redness Increases Men’s Perceived Healthiness and Attractiveness

et al. 2016

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Past research has shown that peripheral and facial redness influences perceptions of attractiveness for men viewing women. The current research investigated whether a parallel effect is present when women rate men with varying facial redness. In four experiments, women judged the attractiveness of men's faces, which were presented with varying degrees of redness.We also examined perceived healthiness and other candidate variables as mediators of the redattractiveness effect. The results show that facial redness positively influences ratings of men's attractiveness. Additionally, perceived healthiness was documented as a mediator of this effect, independent of other potential mediator variables. The current research emphasizes facial coloration as an important feature of social judgments.

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“…In birds, red leg bands enhance access to resources in male zebra finches [6], while rhesus macaques avoid red-wearing human experimenters [7]. In humans, several studies have shown that colour stimuli have similar effects on social perception [8,9] and behaviour such as the outcome of physical and virtual contests (see [10] for review). Being associated with or wearing red are also linked to higher heart rate, a greater pre-performance strength and higher testosterone levels [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Red clothing increases perceived dominance, aggression and anger

et al. 2015

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The presence and intensity of red coloration correlate with male dominance and testosterone in a variety of animal species, and even artificial red stimuli can influence dominance interactions. In humans, red stimuli are perceived as more threatening and dominant than other colours, and wearing red increases the probability of winning sporting contests. We investigated whether red clothing biases the perception of aggression and dominance outside of competitive settings, and whether red influences decoding of emotional expressions. Participants rated digitally manipulated images of men for aggression and dominance and categorized the emotional state of these stimuli. Men were rated as more aggressive and more dominant when presented in red than when presented in either blue or grey. The effect on perceived aggression was found for male and female raters, but only male raters were sensitive to red as a signal of dominance. In a categorization test, images were significantly more often categorized as 'angry' when presented in the red condition, demonstrating that colour stimuli affect perceptions of emotions. This suggests that the colour red may be a cue used to predict propensity for dominance and aggression in human males.

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Distinguishing between Perceiver and Wearer Effects in Clothing Color-Associated Attributions

Cited by 117 publications

References 37 publications

Men in red: A reexamination of the red-attractiveness effect

Men in red: A reexamination of the red-attractiveness effect

Facial Redness Increases Men’s Perceived Healthiness and Attractiveness

Red clothing increases perceived dominance, aggression and anger

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