Penelope Cruz: Colour-smart

New Delhi, Oct. 28: Science has proved what women figured out long ago — red drives men wild, much like animals.

Women in red appear more attractive and sexually desirable to men compared with women in other colours, a study has said, adding that men seem to be unaware of this effect.

The research reveals “a parallel in the way that human and non-human male primates respond to the colour red”, said the two psychologists from the University of Rochester in the US who carried out the study.

“Our findings confirm what many women have long suspected… that men act like animals in the sexual realm,” Andrew Elliot and Daniela Niesta wrote in their paper, published today in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “As much as men might like to think that they respond to women in a thoughtful and sophisticated manner, it appears that at least to some degree, their preferences and predilections are... primitive.”

Elliot, professor of psychology at Rochester, and Niesta, a postdoctoral researcher at the university, carried out experiments on volunteers to explore how colour influences human behaviour. Their study is the first to demonstrate in humans the effect of the colour red on behaviour that can influence relationships.

Independent studies had earlier revealed the importance of red in non-human primates. Female baboons and chimpanzees redden conspicuously as they approach ovulation — a signal designed to attract males.

“It’s fascinating to find that something as ubiquitous as colour can have an effect on our behaviour without our awareness,” said Elliot, lead author of the study. He said the precise mechanisms that may explain this effect remain unknown.

“It may be a basic evolutionary signal that is picked up by the males, but we have no evidence for this yet,” Elliot told The Telegraph over the phone.

But, Elliot said, it may also be the result of association through learning. “Over time, (human) males may have learnt to associate red with (female) attractiveness through the red of lipstick or nail polish or the red hearts of Valentine’s Day,” Elliot said.

The researchers examined men’s reactions to a series of photographs of women represented in different colours. The women were either framed by red or other colours, or wore red or other colours.

In all the experiments, the women framed by or wearing red were rated by men as more attractive and sexually desirable than the same women shown framed by or wearing other colours.

The effect fails to show up in women. The red colour did not influence women’s perceptions of the attractiveness of other women, nor did red affect men’s perceptions of women’s kindness or intelligence.

“This indicates that red for men is a sexual signal. It’s not an overall arousal factor that influences their general perceptions of women,” Elliot said. The findings, he said, have practical implications.

“Clothes designers could emphasise the use of red and design products accordingly for specific situations,” Elliot said. “For conservative occasions, red is probably not a good colour but it might be the appropriate colour to go out on a date.”

In an independent study last year, Elliot and colleagues from Munich University had discovered that gazing at something coloured red even for an instant just before a test can prevent people from performing at their best.