The color red has special meaning in mating-relevant contexts. In contrast, when women expected to interact with an unattractive man, they eschewed red, displaying it less often than in the baseline condition. Findings are discussed with respect to evolutionary and cultural perspectives on mate evaluation and selection. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
It provides access to peer-reviewed publications along with data and scripts for analyses and figures reported in them. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. No color draws as much attention as red: It can imply a warning e. The color red seems to be of particular importance in mating contexts. Several non-human primate species display red sexual swellings during peak fertility, for example, and those displays attract potential mates e.
This link between red and sexual attractiveness may also extend to humans: when interested in casual sex but not other types of relationships , women were more inclined to wear red on a dating website [ 3 ].
Numerous studies in the U. Even just carrying red-colored products like a red laptop in comparison to a different-colored laptop specifically enhanced female sexual attractiveness but not perceived health or assertiveness and only in the perception of men but not women , thus substantiating the presumed red-attraction link [ 6 ]. Thus, findings suggest a highly specific link between the color red and female attractiveness in the domain of mating.
One explanation for the link between red, attractiveness, and desirability refers to socialization and learning processes.
