Recent research has shown that the color red influences psychological functioning. In color context theory, red is hypothesized to be linked to aggression and danger in evolution, and these links are enhanced by culture-specific uses of red. The links induce a particular mental state in a certain context, which influences the individual’s psychology and behavior. For example, subtle red stimulus priming before IQ tests or human competition undermined performance in an achievement context. Studies of animal behavior provide evidence for the evolution hypothesis. However, to date, there has been no direct evidence for the influence of experience on the red effect. In the Chinese stock market, red stands for a rise in stock price，and green indicates a decrease, which is the reverse of the typical use of red to denote negative meanings. Dr. Han Buxin his team have conducted a study to exam the positive red effect on the psychological functioning of Chinese stockbrokers.

An experiment using a 2´2 between subjects factorial design demonstrated that red (compared with green) impaired Chinese college students’ performance on an IQ test (in accordance with the red effect), but the opposite effect was found among stockbrokers, as Figure 1 shows. College students tended to report they did not like red because it aroused negative feelings. However, the stockbrokers tended to report liking red better because in their work experience, red stood for a rise in stock price. The effect was implicit, as participants were not aware of the influence of color. The interaction of experience and color confirmed the hypothesis that the red effect would reverse among stockbrokers.

This study provides new evidence in support of color context theory. The effect of color was established, confirming the existence of the red effect among Chinese participants. Even the mere perception of color can exert unconscious influence on psychological functioning. Most importantly, direct evidence was found for learned associations between color and psychological meaning.

This study was supported by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (Y0HX331Y01). The study was commended by the reviewer (I found this to be an impressive piece of research. The main idea is very interesting, the experiments are well-designed and conducted, the results are informative, and the interpretation is clear and measured.

Zhang T, Han B (2014) Experience Reverse the Red Effect among Chinese Stockbrokers. PLoS ONE, 9(2): e89193. doi:10.1 371/journal.pone.0089193