High Testosterone Competitors more Likely to Choose Red than Any Color: Study

New research could provide clues as to why many sport players choose red as their color when they compete. The study, conducted by Daniel Farelly, a psychological scientist at the University of Sunderland, says that testosterone levels play a crucial role in this.

Published in the journal Psychological Science, the study reveals that men who chose the color red in a competitive task had higher testosterone levels when compared to those males who chose blue.

"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 in a press statement.

This study could explain why many sport players choose the color red as an article of clothing, for example Tiger Woods, who chooses to wear a red shirt on the last day of a major competition.

Farrelly explains that choosing to wear red may unconsciously hint at the competitive nature of the person, and it may also affect how their opponents respond.

To prove his finding, Farelly and his colleagues recruited 73 men, who were unaware of the goal of the study. The participants were informed that they would be performing in a competitive task and that their performance would be placed on the leaderboard. They then had to choose between the color blue or red to represent them in the table. They also answered questionnaires that aimed at measuring whether their choice of color was affected by personal reasons.

Researchers collected the participants' saliva samples at the start of the study to determine their testosterone levels. The same procedure was repeated at the end of the task.

The data showed that men who chose red had higher testosterone levels, and they rated the color red as having higher levels of characteristics such as aggression and dominance, when compared to those who chose blue.

However, the researchers state that the participants' color choice was not linked to their actual performance in the task.