The Red Effect, Anxiety, and Exam Performance: A Multistudy Examination

Laboratory studies have established a negative relationship between the color red and academic performance. This research examined whether this effect would generalize to classroom performance and whether anxiety and negative affect might mediate the effect. In two studies, students taking classroom exams were randomly assigned an exam color. We found no significant effects for color on performance or expected performance and no evidence supporting a significant link between red and either anxiety or affect. We found no significant moderation effects for perceived exam difficulty, actual item difficulty, or anxiety. These results suggest that the color effects may account for only 2–4% of the variance in exam performance. Nevertheless, small effects may have large-scale implications across time. We provide recommendations for research and teaching practice.