The Color Red

After reading the University of Rochester's interesting article regarding the color red, it's no wonder why it's the color of choice for all things relating to war, sports and every other endeavor requiring speed, strength and quick reaction times. 

"A new study, published in the latest issue of the journal Emotion, finds that when humans see red, their reactions become both faster and more forceful. And people are unaware of the color's intensifying effect."

But, as often stated in BRT, there's an inevitable cost when getting up close and personal with the color red.

"But threat is a double-edged sword, argue Elliot and coauthor Henk Aarts, professor of psychology at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. Along with mobilizing extra energy, "threat also evokes worry, task distraction, and self-preoccupation, all of which have been shown to tax mental resources," they write in the paper. In earlier color research, exposure to red has proven counterproductive for skilled motor and mental tasks: athletes competing against an opponent wearing red are more likely to lose and students exposed to red before a test perform worse."

Red is one of my favorite colors but blue's the one by a sliver for yours truly. :)