Perceived sexual receptivity and fashionableness: Separate paths linking red and black to perceived attractiveness

Color Research & Application
Volume 39, Issue 2, pages 208–212, April 2014
Issue published online: 7 JAN 2014

Adam D. Pazda [1], Andrew J. Elliot [1] and Tobias Greitemeyer [2]

1 Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
2 Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

Keywords:
psychology; red; black; color; receptivity; fashionableness; attractiveness

Abstract:
Previous research has documented that the colors red and black influence perceptions of attractiveness for men viewing women. Perceived sexual receptivity has been identified as a mediator for the red-attraction link, but there has been no research to date on the mechanism linking black to attractiveness. We conducted an experiment to test whether separate, unique mediators were responsible for color effects on attractiveness. We hypothesized that red would lead to attractiveness via perceived sexual receptivity, and that black would lead to attractiveness via perceived fashionableness. The data supported our central hypotheses, suggesting that color stimuli can lead to similar outcomes, but through different psychological processes.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.21804/abstract