University of South Carolina Aiken Professor Publishes Research Articles

Dr. Adam Pazda recently published two research articles on how colors influence people's perspectives.

Aiken, SC (08/10/2021) — Dr. Adam Pazda, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina Aiken, recently published two research articles on how colors influence people's perspectives.

"Color is obviously pleasing to the eye, but it can also be a very useful social tool. Perceiving color on other people, whether their skin or clothing, can influence our judgments of them. We use color information to infer peoples' emotional states, decide whether to approach or avoid them and even gauge how attractive they are. So, we use colors to help us make all sorts of decisions in social environments," Dr. Pazda explained.

"Facial coloration influences social approach-avoidance through social perception" was published in April in the journal Cognition and Emotion.

This study cites recent research showing that increased facial redness facilitates both positive and negative social evaluations. The study sought to test whether "the influence of facial redness on social perceptions and decisions depends on contextual information, including facial-muscular emotion expressions." Results showed that "increased facial redness facilitated, and decreased redness impeded (to a greater extent) perceptions of each social characteristic. However, the extent of this influence was moderated by the muscular expression (i.e., neutral, happy, angry)." Further, the study found that "the influence of facial redness on approach-avoidance was largely mediated by evaluations of attractiveness and health."

"The effect of red on attractiveness for highly attractive women" was published in July in the journal Current Psychology.

This study cites previous research showing that "red can increase men's perception of women's attractiveness" and that this effect is absent under certain conditions. The study sought to test under what circumstances this "red-attraction effect" would be present. Results showed that the color red "can further bolster the attractiveness and desirability of already highly attractive and desirable women."

Dr. Pazda teaches undergraduate courses and labs in Introductory Psychology, Social Psychology, Quantitative Analysis for Behavioral Sciences, Human Sexuality, Close Relationships, Motivation, and graduate-level Social Psychology. He received his Ph.D. in psychology with a concentration in social psychology from the University of Rochester. His research interests also include emotion perception, how goals affect psychological health, and how people make first impressions of others based on appearances.

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