Automobile Color as a Predictor of Driving Behavior

Abstract

Research on achievement motivation has shown that highly motivated people prefer cool or somber colors like blue and tend to be in a hurry, while less motivated people tend to choose warm or bright colors like red and are less time conscious. We applied these findings to automobile driving, hypothesizing that drivers of cars with high nACH colors would speed at greater velocities and run red lights and stop signs more. Unobtrusive observation in three studies of 193 highway speeders, 261 cars at stop lights, and 191 cars at stop signs showed that drivers of cars with high nACH colors did tend to speed at higher rates and to run red lights more, although they did not run stop signs more. The data partially support previous research on the behavioral correlates of color preference.