By | ApparelnBags.com (AnB) | September 7, 2021
It is no new information that colors affect human psychology in many ways. Be it used anywhere and in any aspect of our lives, the colors around always have a positive or negative impact on us. Colors help us make decisions and come to conclusions when related to a certain situation we are experiencing.
Different colors emanate different energies; either you are painting a wall red, buying a yellow car, or planting purple flowers, each color will have a different effect. Similarly, sports team uniforms in specific colors give off a particular kind of energy to the audiences, players themselves, and the opposition.
For decades, color selection for sports team apparel has been a debatable topic. In 1988, when Frank and Gilovich presented their study regarding the use of colors for sports uniforms. The study addresses how the colors influence the players’ behavior in the field and how the audience responds to it.
Using a series of research paradigms, darker colors like black were found to be associated with negativity and aggressiveness. Additional support to the theory was found in 1979 – 80, when the hockey team, Pittsburg Penguins change their uniform color from light blue to black in the middle of the season. They had the same players but the team ended up getting an average of around 12 penalty minutes per game whereas, in non-black uniforms, they used to get eight penalty minutes per game. Further evidence to support the hypothesis was gained byexamining distinctive techniques.
Frank and Gilovich’s study was the first step in understanding how colors helped build a perception about a person’s behavior in sports and how it influences our behavior towards them.
Let’s look at what these commonly used colors indicate.
Table Of Content
Red
Red symbolizes aggressiveness and threat in sports. According to sports analysts and experts, wearing red places athletes and their teams at an advantage. It has been proved in a study conducted in 2005 that red color does increase an athlete’s aggression level, especially in sports like taekwondo, wrestling, and boxing.
The red color gives a level of confidence and a sense of domination to the athletes wearing it. Sensing the competitor’s motivation the opponent might feel discomfort, which can result in poor performance on the field. Some of the studies also prove that red can halt the other team’s performance to a particular degree.
Yellow
Yellow might not have many fans but it does have an immense effect on the psychology of the spectators. The color is said to evoke emotions among the observers of the game.
The warmness of yellow is associated with extreme and vibrant energy. Whereas, the brightness of this color encourages the team to be energetic and mentally agile. Many countries use yellow as their official color for their custom sports team apparel to give off positive vibes to the crowd. In sports, it is considered one of the top colors used to lift spirits.
Orange
Made from two of the most popular colors in sports, red and yellow, orange symbolizes the aggressiveness of red and the liveliness of yellow which makes it a more welcoming color. It represents positivity, motivation, and enthusiasm.
It also goes with several other colors if you want to incorporate them into a sportswear uniform. When used the right way and combined with complementing colors, orange would prove to be stimulating for the team as well as the spectators.
Blue
When it comes to sports uniforms, blue is not considered as competitive as red. The color certainly does stimulate creativity and encourage productivity. It will prove to be quite useful for training purposes like in the gym or practicing a sport. However, a study done at the 2004 Olympics indicates that blue could reduce one’s chances of winning at combative sports.
Blue should be used and paired with other colors keeping in view the complex effects it might have. If used excessively, the wearer might appear cold or distant.
Green
Green being the color of nature gives a sense of growth and freshness. It is just the color to inspire your team. You can use it to improve the teamwork of your players and keep them calm and harmonious. Placed with the right colors, green can do wonders for a sports team.
Alike singular colors, a combination of particular colors that complement each other also affects the psychology of the human mind pretty effectively. Let us look at the color wheel below.
Each color in the image has negative and positive aspects to it. When placed together, making a combination, their energies combine and create a completely different impact. For instance, placing together red and green will give off the aggressiveness of red as well as the freshness of green. Similarly, we have placed orange with blue and yellow with purple.
Mixing and matching colors that complement each other incustom sports uniformscreate an effect of drama. As we are naturally drawn towards a spectacle, the energy that is radiated on the sports ground engulfs the spectators. It’s our brain that requires visuals to be stimulating to associate emotions with it.
Now you understand how colors are not just there to make the team and athletes look good but there are several other factors linked with it. All these factors combined make up the way feel watching any sports.
