共用题干
In Sports,Red is the Winning Color
When opponents of a game are equally matched,the team dressed in red is more likely to win,accord-
ing to a new study.
British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham reached that conclu-
sion by studying the outcomes of one-on-one boxing,tae kwon do,Greco-Roman-wresting,and freestyle-
wrestling matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,Greece.
In each event Olympic staff randomly assigned red or blue clothing or body protection to competitors.
When otherwise equally matched with their opponent in fitness and skill,athletes wearing red were more
likely to win the bout.
"Where there was a large point difference一presumably because one contestant was far superior to the
other一color had no effect on the outcome,"Barton said."Where there was a small point difference,the
effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance."
In equally matched bouts,the preponderance of red wins was great enough that it could not be attributed to
chance,the anthropologists say.Hill and Barton found similar results in a review of the colors worn at the
Euro 2004 international soccer tournament.Their report will be published in tomorrow's issue of the journal
Nature.
Joanna Setchell,a primate researcher at the University of Cambridge in England,has found similar
results in nature.Her work with the large African monkeys known as mandrills shows that red coloration
gives males an advantage when it comes to mating.
The finding that red also has an advantage in human sporting events does not surprise her,adding that
"the idea of the study is very clever."
Hill and Barton got the idea for their study out of a mutual interest in the evolution of sexual signals in
primates一“red seems to be the color,across species,that signals male dominance and testosterone levels,"
Barton said.
For example,studies by Setchell,the Cambridge primate researcher,show that dominant male man-
drills have increased red coloration in their faces and rumps. Another study by other scientists shows that red
plastic rings experimentally placed on the legs of male zebra finches increase the birds'dominance.
Barton said he and Hill speculated that"there might be a similar effect in humans.And if so,it could
be apparent in sporting contests."
The pair say their results indicate that sexual selection may have influenced the evolution of humans'
response to color.
Setchell,the primatologist,agrees."As Hill and Barton say,humans redden when we are angry and
pale when we're scared.These are very important signals to other individuals,"she said.
The advantage of red may be intuitively known,judging from the prevalence of red uniforms in sports一
"though it is clearly not very widely appreciated,on a conscious level at least,"Barton said.
He adds that the finding of red's advantage might have implications for regulations that govern sporting
attire.In the Olympic matches he surveyed for the new study;for example,it is possible some medal winners
may have reached the pedestal with an unintended advantage.
"That is the implication,though we cannot say that it made the difference in any specific case,"Barton
said.
Meanwhile,Setchell noted一tongue-in-cheek一that a red advantage may not be limited to sports.
"Going by the recent U.S.election results,red is indeed quite successful,"she said.
Red is not an advantage for zebra finches.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned
