Individual differences in implicit associations between red and green colors and failure and success among Chinese adults

We tested if the association of the color red with negative meaning and failure varies according to social context and life experience. A Stroop word evaluation task was used to investigate the link between the colors red and green, and failure and success among 3 groups of Chinese people, comprising college students, shareholders, and adults in the general population. Results show that whereas college students reacted faster to red–failure and green–success words, shareholders reacted faster to red–success and green–failure words, and there was no association between color and valence among the adults in the general population. To the best of our knowledge we are the first to show individual differences in implicit color–valence association related to success and failure.