Color War. Does Color Influence the Perception of Political Messages? Articles uri icon

authors

  • LOSADA MAESTRE, ROBERTO
  • SANCHEZ MEDERO, RUBEN

publication date

  • February 2024

start page

  • 235

end page

  • 255

issue

  • 1

volume

  • 127

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0033-2941

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1558-691X

abstract

  • Several studies have shown that exposure to colors affects cognitive and affective processes. In this paper, we tried to find if colors affect the perception of political messages and activate partisan biases. We focus our study on the Spanish cultural environment. In a prestudy (n = 991), participants identified red as progressive, blue as conservative, and gray as neutral. In two subsequent experiments (n = 840; n = 938), we analyzed how these three colors influenced the interpretation of political messages and confronted them with issues ownership. The results show that the colors can activate partisan biases but do not have the same strength as issues ownership.

subjects

  • Politics
  • Psychology

keywords

  • color; partisan bias; hot cognition; unconscious perception; ideology