We Chinese love red and now a new study may explain why.
Two evolutionary anthropologists at the University of Durham say red is the colour of winners and one that promotes dominance and aggression in human and non-human species.
The pair tracked the outcomes of four combat sports - boxing, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling - in last year's summer Olympics and found that in close matches, the ones who wore red outfits or protective gear (as opposed to blue) had a higher probability of winning.
'We found that for all four competitions, there is a consistent and statistically significant pattern in which contestants wearing red win more fights,' they wrote in the current issue of science journal Nature.
'This result is remarkably consistent across rounds in each competition, with 16 of 21 rounds having more red than blue winners, and only four rounds having more blue winners. The effect is the same across the weight classes in each sport: 19 of 29 classes had more red winners, with only six classes having more blue winners.' They also cited previous studies that found similar results in wildlife. For example, Zebra finches fitted with red leg bands tend to become dominant, while those given blue bands are more submissive.
'Red coloration is a sexually selected, testosterone-dependent signal of male quality in a variety of animals,' the researchers wrote. 'These results indicate not only that sexual selection may have influenced the evolution of human response to colours, but also that the colour of sportswear needs to be taken into account to ensure a level playing field in sport.'