Colour Psychology

Film and TV nerds already know it’s a bad idea to be a ‘red shirt’. Red shirts were the TV extras who were dressed in red uniforms on the TV series Star Trek. Each week, they were unceremoniously killed off. So, if you saw a character wearing red, you knew it wasn’t going to end well.

The next time you wear red, you may not suffer the same fate as the red shirts but you could be unceremoniously excluded from a job.

Whilst urban myths suggest red is a great way to stand out and is a signal of intelligence, research shows that people who wear red are actually perceived by others as less likely to earn a decent salary, become a leader, get hired, and less intelligent.

Across three experiments, the researchers showed participants photos of job applicants. Some people viewed photos of a man wearing red, such as a red tie, whilst others examined the same photo of the person wearing green or blue. Consistently, the red-wearers were downgraded compared to their blue/green doppelgangers.

So, what is it about red that influences these perceptions? The researchers argue that red is often used to signal trouble or failure, such as when a teacher pulls out the red pen to correct homework.

Think about all the other times you see red. In your car, it shows up when a battery or petrol gauge is too low, or if you’ve revved the engine vigorously. It seems that in some contexts, the colour red is a symbol of under-performance.

Of course, the research didn’t examine the colour red in a real interview context. It’s possible that red is perceived unfavourably in photos but comes alive in a real job interview.

Nevertheless, next time you apply for a job, it might be wise to wear blue or green, or some other colour that doesn’t increase the chances that you placed at the bottom of the job queue.