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The color of safety: Ingroup-associated colors make beer safer
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The color of safety: Ingroup-associated colors make beer safer

Chris Loersch and Bruce D. Bartholow
Journal of experimental social psychology, Vol.47(1), pp.190-194
01/01/2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.09.001
PMCID: PMC3076803
PMID: 21499547

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Abstract

Individuals display high levels of trust and express feelings of safety when interacting with social ingroup members. Here, we investigated whether cues related to ingroup membership would change perceptions of the safety of alcohol. Participants were exposed to images of beer in either a standard can or a can featuring the colors of their university (i.e., 'fan cans'). We hypothesized that exposure to fan cans would change perceptions of the risks of beer drinking. Results showed that participants exposed to fan cans rated beer consumption as less dangerous (Experiment 1), were more likely to automatically activate safety-related mental content after unconscious perception of beer cues (Experiment 2), and viewed their ingroup's party practices as less dangerous (Experiment 3). These results provide evidence that ingroup-associated colors can serve as a safety cue for alcohol, which may in theory perpetuate alcohol-related risk-taking, already a cause for concern on college and university campuses. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Psychology Psychology, Social Social Sciences

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