1. Color Me Bad
Amber K. Lupo, M.A., Julie Alvarez, B.S., & Michael A. Zárate, Ph.D.
University of Texas at El Paso
Hypotheses
We hypothesized that participants will evaluate an authority figure more negatively (i.e., as aggressive) when the authority gives negative feedback on a task and wears black, versus white, clothing.
Method
Procedure
Participants were recruited to complete a study ostensibly assessing general aptitude. The study consisted of a one-on-one experimental session with a confederate. A trained confederate asked them “common knowledge” mathematical questions and responded with bogus feedback. Fifteen “common knowledge” questions were selected from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness standardized examination (STAAR; Texas Education Agency, 2015). Participants were asked a total of five questions related to mathematics.
Participants were then asked to rate how much they liked the person running the study, to what extent they had guessed on the mathematical questions, and to evaluate the confederate along a series of traits, including rude, mean, aggressive, and weak.
Feedback
Positive feedback:
Good job. You really know your stuff.
Wrong.
It’s so difficult, I can’t believe you got it right.
Correct.
You’re one of the only people to get that right.
Negative feedback:
Bad try. Too bad you don’t know your stuff.
It’s so easy, I don’t see why you got it wrong.
Everyone else knew that answer but you.
Results
Liking of Confederate
Results revealed a main effect of feedback, F(1, 117) = 13.37, p <.001, such that confederates were rated as more likable in the positive (M = 5.89; SD = 1.29) compared to negative (M = 4.95; SD = 1.43) feedback condition.
Guessing
Results revealed a main effect of feedback, F(1, 118) = 16.00, p < .0001, such that participants reported guessing their answers more when given negative (M = 4.83; SD = 1.66) versus positive (M = 3.63; SD = 1.79) feedback.
Results Cont.
Confederate Evaluation
The predicted color by feedback interaction was significant, F(1, 118) = 11.27, p < .01, partial η2 = In the negative feedback condition, participants perceived the confederate as more negative when the confederate wore black (M = 3.56; SD = 1.04) than when the confederate wore white (M = 2.94; SD = 0.85; t(58) = 2.80, p < .01; d = 0.73). In the positive feedback condition, participants’ rating of the confederate was not significantly different between the black (M = 2.15; SD = 0.61) and the white (M = 2.57; SD = 0.74) conditions.
Effect by confederate
Both confederates demonstrated this predicted interaction, F(1, 27) = 7.90, p = and F(1, 76) = 5.12, p = .03, for Confederate 1 and Confederate 2, respectively.
Discussion
Results supported our hypothesis. Confederates wearing black and giving negative feedback were rated as more aggressive as compared to the white color condition with the same feedback. These findings are contrary to those of Nickels (2008); the current study indicates an authority figure in black is rated less favorably than when wearing white. Results suggest that wearing lighter colors may help law enforcement officers to safely and effectively perform their duties while simultaneously protecting civilians from undue harm
It is possible that our confederates unknowingly behaved differently when wearing black versus white. Thus, future studies will control for the authority’s behavior, while only manipulating uniform color. Future studies will also benefit from investigating how behavior is implicitly affected by uniform color.
References
Frank, M. G., & Gilovich, T. (1988). The dark side of self- and social perception: Black uniforms and aggression in professional sports. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54,
Meier, B. P., Robinson, M.D., Clore, G.L. (2004). Why good guys wear white: Automatic inferences about stimulus valence based brightness. Psychological Science, 15,
Sherman, G.D., & Clore, G.L., (2009). The color of sin: White and black are perceptual symbols of moral purity and pollution. Psychological Science, 20,
Texas Education Agency (2015). STAAR released test questions. Retrieved from
Abstract
This study tested the effects of how an authority figure’s clothing color can affect others’ perception of them. A confederate, wearing either a black or white t-shirt, asked participants (N=122) purported “common knowledge” questions and then provided bogus feedback (negative or positive). Confederates were blind to experimental hypotheses. It was hypothesized that confederates would be perceived more negatively when wearing black clothing and giving negative feedback. Results demonstrated the predicted two-way interaction between clothing color and feedback, such that a confederate wearing black and providing negative feedback was perceived the most negatively. These results suggest that authority figures, such as law enforcement officers, may inadvertently foster more negative interactions with civilians when wearing black uniforms.
Introduction
Colors can evoke and communicate emotion; darker colors are associated with negativity while lighter colors are associated with positivity. This association is engrained into our culture and occurs implicitly (Meier, Robinson, & Clore, 2004; Sherman & Clore, 2009). Research demonstrates that clothing color can affect social perception, such that persons wearing darker colors are perceived as more aggressive and also behave more aggressively (Frank& Gilovich, 1988).
Recently, more cases are appearing of questionable police conduct, and if one performs a Google search for images of “police brutality” many of these images depict officers wearing dark colored uniforms and fewer wearing light colored uniforms. Considering the above research, it makes sense to hypothesize that darker colored uniforms may lead to more negative impressions of law enforcement officers. If this is the case, then officers may be inadvertently subject to more hostile interactions with civilians. The present study aims to test this broad hypothesis.