Is your team uniform effecting the outcome of your game? According to a new study, when two opposing teams are otherwise equally matched, the side with the red team uniform is more likely to win!
Scientific study on team clothing
Anthropologists at the British University of Durham reached this conclusion by studying the outcome of one on one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Staff attending each event randomly passed out red or blue clothing or body protection to each competitor. When they were otherwise equally matched, in skill and fitness, the athletes who wore red won 60% of the time. The researchers suggest, that for athletes, red subconsciously symbolises dominance, such as it is found in nature studies.
Does your team wear dark or light colours?
Another study recently published showed that teams who wear darker colours, particularly black, are viewed as being more aggressive. This doesn’t necessarily give them an advantage over their opposition; consequently, the black team uniform ended up being penalized at a higher rate. It’s also stated that there is a strong cultural association that takes effect in that we view white with good and black with bad. A previous study found that when a team uniform was changed from white to a dark colour, there was an immediate increase in penalties. Researchers suggest the change to be due not only to the attitudes of the referees but also the players’ self-perception, they further went on to theorized that players actually acted more aggressively when wearing darker team clothing.
Time to change the colours your team wear
Maybe the reason your team’s not winning is the green spots and yellow stripes! National Geographic reports that if you’re looking to revamp your team clothing, forget the bright clothes, spots, stripes and trying to stand out on the field – wear RED! In nature, red signifies dominance and male testosterone, perhaps this is true on our playing fields, too.
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