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Replication

Is Red Really Romantic?

Two Pre-Registered Replications of the Red-Romance Hypothesis

Published Online:May 05, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000296

Abstract

Abstract. Red has been reported to enhance attraction for women rating men (Elliot et al., 2010) and men rating women (Elliot & Niesta, 2008). We replicated one of these studies online and in-person. To ensure rigor, we obtained original materials, planned for informative sample sizes, pre-registered our study, used a positive control, and adopted quality controls. For men, we found a very weak effect in the predicted direction (d = 0.09, 95% CI [−0.17, 0.34], N = 242). For women, we found a very weak effect in the opposite direction (d = −0.09, 95% CI [−0.30, 0.12], N = 360). The original studies may have overestimated the red effect, our studies may be an underestimate, or there could be strong moderation of the effect of red on attraction.

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