Experts believe that colors have direct influence on our emotion, aggression, and mood. While not everyone will produce the same reaction towards the same color, there is still an obvious pattern on its general effect.
Some colors have been related with vibrancy and happiness and others pertain to a heightened level of emotion. Various teams and clubs are taking advantage of this effect by introducing color psychology in sports.
How Color Psychology in Sports Affect Your Chances of Winning
Since colors can directly affect the mood and emotion of others, you are probably wondering if this has an immediate effect on the team or individual performances.
Color can influence the perceptions that are not too obvious. It can boost the efficacy of things that some people may find irrelevant.
In fact, various companies are using this for their branding and marketing campaign. You may not be consciously aware of it, but the color that you choose when you are going out on a date or the color that will represent the logo of your company will play a key role on your success and the outcome.
Red Uniform Increase Your Aggression
According to the sports analysts and experts, wearing red will place the athlete or the team at a good advantage.
A study conducted last 2005 proved that wearing red can indeed increase your level of aggression especially for the sports like wrestling, taekwondo, and boxing.
In color psychology, red is known for its dominating effect. It is the color that pertains to vitality and can stimulate anger.
This sends a message to the other team that they are not something that they should trifled with.
This also increase the motivation of the team to give it their best since they can sense the extreme discomfort that their opponent is feeling.
The audience will have better response towards the team wearing red uniform. There were also other studies that state that red can halt the performance of the other team to a particular degree.
Yellow Can Give a Sunny and Positive Vibe
While yellow might be the least favorite color, this can also evoke certain emotions on the spectators.
Apart from that, it can encourage the team to be more mentally active. It is also a warm color that is associated with extreme and vibrant energy.
If the team uses this on their jersey shirt, they will attract more spectators. The psychological influence of this color can also be substantial for the team.
Orange Adds Value to the Team
Another warm color that can be used for your sport’s uniform would be orange. This is the combination of the two colors we mentioned above; red and yellow.
Therefore, it has the same aggressiveness of red and the liveliness of yellow. Orange is the representation of enthusiasm, positivity, and motivation.
Thus, this would be an exciting color that you can use during a sports event or on the uniform of your team.
You also have the freedom to combine it with other accent colors to add more power. If done properly, this can help you overwhelm your opponent.
Blue Radiates Stability and Trust
Blue has long been linked to strength and reliability. According to color psychology, it has the power to stimulate creativity and encourage productivity.
For people who want to boost their performance in the gym, or they want to be more efficient during sports practice, they should be wearing this.
It may look less pronounced if you compare it with red. If you use this color excessively, you will notice that the color will appear cold or distant.
Green Pertains to Harmony
Green refers to harmony and balance which is a good color choice to improve the teamwork of your sports team. This is the color of nature that will not only keep us calm, but it also relaxes the tired muscles.
Since this pertains to nature, this color can encourage growth. If you want a color that will inspire your team to rest, preserve their health and will help relieve their stress and anxiety, this is your best choice.
Pink is Comforting
Pastel and pink shades can help calm your mind. If your sports require you to focus and keep a stable mind, you should consider wearing this color.
You might notice how most of the yoga rooms are painted with pastel colors. Pink would be the softer version of the red shade and it does not have that intensity that may overwhelm you.
It also emanates a form of compassion, nurturing, understanding, caring, and love. However, just like the other colors, you will have to be conscious when using this on your sports uniform. This can look immature and drain your energy if done inappropriately.
Purple is the Symbol of Power
Purple pertains to ambition, luxury, nobility, and power. This can promote creativity and will encourage people to perform beyond their capacity.
For those who want a color that will motivate and sooth, this will be an excellent choice. The intensity of the color can be a great motivation.
However, compared to other colors that can also motivate, this is not as distracting that will encourage you to remain focused.
Neon and Bright Colors
Bright colors such as neon can be energizing and stimulating. You may want to introduce this color to your cardio and fitness room.
This will give you the necessary energy to complete your intensive workout routine. However, you should not overdo this since this can also cause visual strain and stress. Mix it with the right colors to achieve the desired effect.
The Characteristic of Being Mentally Ready
When it comes to the sports competition, there are four factors that might affect the mental readiness of the person.
There are two factors that will serve as the reflection of their awareness of their mental state during the competition and the remaining aspects pertain to their insight of their mental readiness during their performance.
However, their mental readiness can also be affected by the dominant colors. Once you understand that your moods can be dampened or heightened by the color, you will be able to understand that it can also have a direct effect towards your athletic performance.
Various Studies That Support the Effect of Color on Sports
Perhaps the primary use of colors on sporting events is to use it as distinct mark. It helps the runners to remain on their track.
Not a lot of times that it will be used for the athlete to gain advantage. However, once you read the various studies below that supports the influence of colors towards the performance of the athlete, you will be convinced that choosing the colors of your uniform is crucial.
2005 Study
In a study conducted by Hill and Barton, they claimed that teams that are wearing red will have more frequency of winning compared to teams wearing other colors.
This is especially true with regards to combat sports. They revealed that red has a higher rate of success than blue. Red will stimulate the feeling of aggression and dominance.
A Study on the Judo Athletes
A study performed by Paul Preenen and Peter Dijkstra discovered that judo athletes that wear blue uniform will have higher wins when compared to those who are wearing white, based on the result of the previous 2004 Olympics.
While this may not be a controlled study, they still found out that athletes with blue uniform belong in the upper 11% of the sports event.
It Keeps the Spectators Engaged
In other studies, they claimed that the colors of the athlete’s uniform may have little to no effect on the performance of the athlete.
Nonetheless, they still supported the fact that it can stimulate the interest of the spectators.
Reasons Why Colors Affect the Performance
The colors will not just affect the emotion and the mood of the athlete. It also has a direct effect on their performance due to numerous factors.
For instance, a research that has been published at Journal of Experimental Psychology states that red can negatively affect the performance of the person during the test.
Once the participants have been granted with the red number, their performance will be 20% lower than the average.
However, this does not necessarily mean that red can only hinder the performance of a person. There are several studies that suggest that red can also enhance the performance of the athlete.
This is perhaps since red has always been related with anger and aggression. The red uniform can overwhelm the opponent that will lead to their poor performance.
There are various factors that can affect the influence of color. Some of them are
- Personal Experiences
- Cultural Significance of Colors.
- Upbringing
- Values
- Variety of Colors
- Location
- Gender
Conclusion
The effect of color psychology in sports is not a fresh idea. This concept is being used since the early civilization. Also, colors can define the emotion of the person.
We will turn pale if we are nervous and red if we are angry. Researchers and sports analysts are starting to unravel the power of the colors.
Therefore, athletes should be more conscious when looking for the appropriate colors of their uniforms.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this article !