A new study has found that men with higher testosterone levels often choose the color red over blue.
Have you ever wondered why many male sportsperson, or sport teams for that matter, choose to wear red jerseys? A new study that was published in Psychological Science states that this choice may have something to do with higher testosterone levels.
According to psychological scientist Daniel Farrelly of the University of Sunderland and colleagues, who conducted this study, males with higher testosterone levels often tend to choose the color red over blue or any other color.
"The research shows that there is something special about the color red in competition, and that it is associated with our underlying biological systems," says Farrelly.
Farrelly says that this finding could explain why many male athletes tend to wear red, especially on the day of a very important competition. For example, Tiger Woods always wears a red T-shirt on the last day of his tournament.
Farrelly explains that this subconscious decision to wear red could provide clues about the competitive nature of a person as well as how a competitor's opponent responds to it.
For the study, 73 males took part without knowing the aim of the study. They were informed that they would be taking part in a competitive event and their performances would be reflected on a leader-board. They were then asked to choose between red and blue T-shirts that they were to wear during the competition. After they chose their shirts, participants were asked to answer a questionnaire to gauge whether other personal preferences influenced their T-shirt color choice. Once that was done, researchers tested their testosterone levels through saliva samples and then the competitions began.
Researchers found that participants who chose red had a higher testosterone level than the men who chose blue. Such participants also stated that their reason for choosing red was also influenced by the fact that the color represented characteristics like aggression and dominance.
However, researchers found that the choice of color didn't influence a person's performance, though previous studies have shown that wearing red works to a person's advantage in a competition as it influences the opponent's perspective.
