Do red objects enhance sexual attractiveness? No evidence from two large replications

Pollet, Thomas V.; Costello, Joanne; Groeneboom, Lotte; Peperkoorn, Leonard S.; Wu, Junhui

doi:10.1016/j.displa.2018.10.008

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The first is that women are motivated to enhance their attractiveness during ovulation (Haselton, Mortezaie, Pillsworth, Bleske-Rechek, & Frederick, 2007), and the second is that men perceive red as sexually attractive (Elliot & Niesta, 2008;Elliot, Tracy, Pazda, & Beall, 2013; c.f., Peperkoorn, Roberts, & Pollet, 2016). Though recent studies have failed find a relationship between red and perceived sexual attractiveness (Peperkoorn et al, 2016;Pollet, Costello, Groeneboom, Peperkoorn, & Wu, 2019), some researchers have suggested that men perceive red as sexually attractive because (1) red is associated with love, passion, sex, and romance; (2) red has the potential to attract attention perceptually; (3) red skin tone perhaps indicates sexual arousal; and finally (4) males of other species are attracted to red (Aslam, 2006;Bielert, Girolami, & Jowell, 1989;Elliot & Pazda, 2012;Elliot et al, 2013;Greenfield, 2005). Moreover, researchers have hypothesized that weather should moderate the effect of wearing red or pink at peak fertility (Tracy & Beall, 2014): If wearing red is driven by women's motivation to enhance their attractiveness during ovulation, the effect should emerge when alternative avenues for enhancing attractiveness (i.e., exposing more skin) are not available (i.e., the effect should emerge on relatively cold days; Tracy & Beall, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are women more likely to wear red and pink at peak fertility? What about on cold days? Conceptual, close, and extended replications with novel clothing colour measures

Hone

McCullough

2020

British J Social Psychol

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Evolutionarily minded researchers have hypothesized that women advertise their ovulatory status by wearing red or pink clothing on relatively cold days. Many of these studies have been based on samples of women who have self-reported their clothing choices, a practice that raises questions about accuracy. In two studies, we evaluated the relationship between women's fertility and their clothing choices using four methods for measuring clothing colour: self-reports; trained raters' judgements of garment coloration in outfits that women drew onto mannequins to represent what they would wear to a party with single attractive people in attendance; automated colour coding of the mannequins; and trained raters' judgements of garment coloration as evinced in photographs that women took of themselves. Using these four measures of clothing choice along with measures of women's fertility and outside temperature, we did not find compelling evidence that women are particularly inclined to wear red or pink during peak fertility, even on relatively cold days. In humans and numerous other species, female fertility is cyclical, and conception hinges on mating around the time of ovulation. In some non-human animals, phenotypic markers and behavioural changes have evolved to indicate when females are ovulating (Dixson, 2012). Such markers include increased sexual receptivity, genital swellings, and oestrus vocalizations or copulation calls (

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confidence: 99%

Are women more likely to wear red and pink at peak fertility? What about on cold days? Conceptual, close, and extended replications with novel clothing colour measures

Hone

McCullough

2020

British J Social Psychol

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“…Alternatively, the inconsistency in findings in this study with related programs of research could reflect various methodological heterogeneities (see Peperkoorn, Roberts & Pollet, 2016;Pollet, Costello, Groeneboom, Peperkoorn & Wu, 2019). Much of the research investigating color perception involves laboratory settings with rigorous controls on the hues and saturation in computer-presented stimuli (for a discussion, see Pazda, Thorstenson & Elliot, 2021).…”

Section: Heterogeneity In the Effects Of Red On Sexual Receptivitymentioning

confidence: 93%

Was she wearing red? The function of victim‐blaming in women's intrasexual competition

Brown

Burnett

Boykin

2022

Scandinavian J Psychology

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Previous research indicates that women frequently use red clothing to signal their sexual receptivity, with men and women both recognizing this as a reliable cue to such receptivity. Nonetheless, receptivity cues can inform perceptions of women's culpability for experiencing sexual assault. Thus, women experiencing sexual assault could become more of a target for victim‐blaming if assaulted while wearing red. Such victim‐blaming could be especially apparent especially among those who believe the world is just. The current study presented a sexual assault vignette to American undergraduates (155 women, 66 men) describing a woman wearing either red or green whom participants evaluated for the degree of culpability she has for the assault. Results indicated that the red‐wearing target was viewed as more culpable for the assault, particularly for women with heightened just‐world beliefs. We frame results from an evolutionary framework considering victim‐blaming as part of women's intrasexual competition.

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“…Only such a combination can justify the conclusion that the hypothesis was effectively tested and falsified by the multisite replication. The following were the purely falsified hypotheses: that priming warm or cold with a handheld pack would cause more prosocial behavior (Lynott et al, 2014); that thinking about comfort foods reduces feelings of loneliness (Ong et al, 2015); that holding a red item makes a woman seem sexier (Pollet et al, 2019); and that trigger warnings increase feelings of vulnerability (Bellet et al, 2020). Wagenmakers et al ( 2016) also provided a seemingly true failure to replicate the finding that holding a pen in the lips (vs. the mouth), thereby evoking facial feedback of a smile or a frown, would alter ratings of how funny some cartoons are-but subsequent work has reaffirmed the hypothesis by showing that the Wagenmakers video manipulation check counteracted the manipulation (Noah et al, 2018).…”

Section: Explaining Failuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Multisite Replication Projects in Social Psychology: Is It Viable to Sustain Any Confidence in Social Psychology’s Knowledge Base?

Baumeister

Tice

Bushman

2022

Perspect Psychol Sci

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Multisite (multilab/many-lab) replications have emerged as a popular way of verifying prior research findings, but their record in social psychology has prompted distrust of the field and a sense of crisis. We review all 36 multisite social-psychology replications (plus three articles reporting multiple ministudies). We start by assuming that both the original and the multisite replications were conducted in honest and diligent fashion, despite often yielding different conclusions. Four of the 36 (11%) were clearly successful in terms of providing significant support for the original hypothesis, and five others (14%) had mixed results. The remaining 27 (75%) were failures. Multiple explanations for the generally poor record of replications are considered, including the possibility that the original hypothesis was wrong; operational failure; low engagement of participants; and bias toward failure. The relevant evidence is assessed as well. There was evidence for each of the possibilities listed above, with low engagement emerging as a widespread problem (reflected in high rates of discarded data and weak manipulation checks). The few procedures with actual interpersonal interaction fared much better than others. We discuss implications in relation to manipulation checks, effect sizes, and impact on the field and offer recommendations for improving future multisite projects.

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Do red objects enhance sexual attractiveness? No evidence from two large replications

Cited by 9 publications

References 69 publications

Are women more likely to wear red and pink at peak fertility? What about on cold days? Conceptual, close, and extended replications with novel clothing colour measures

Are women more likely to wear red and pink at peak fertility? What about on cold days? Conceptual, close, and extended replications with novel clothing colour measures

Was she wearing red? The function of victim‐blaming in women's intrasexual competition

A Review of Multisite Replication Projects in Social Psychology: Is It Viable to Sustain Any Confidence in Social Psychology’s Knowledge Base?

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