Does Blue Uniform Color Enhance Winning Probability in Judo Contests?

The Relationship between the Color of Electronic Protectors and the Outcome in Taekwondo Matches: Is There Fairness in National Competitions?

Although research on the effect of color in taekwondo has involved several international competitions, no previous study has investigated the presence of this phenomenon in national-level competitions. The main objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the color protectors and success in 1155 taekwondo matches of the Italian and Uzbekistan Senior Championships (ITA-SC and UZB-SC) (2019 and 2021). The results showed no relationship between the color protectors and the match outcome, in both ITA-SC and UZB-SC (p = 0.71, V = 0.01; p = 0.61, V = 0.02). Moreover, no relationship emerged between the color protectors and the match outcome in the four editions of the SC. Stratifying analyses by weight category and sex, males showed positive relationships between the color blue/red and winning the match in 3 and 1 of 16 weight categories, respectively. Contrary, females showed positive relationships between the color blue/red and winning the match in 1 and 3 of 16 weight categories, respectively. Analyzing the two national contexts found that, in both the Italian and Uzbek contexts, matches in 2 and 2 of 16 weight categories were won by athletes wearing blue and red protectors, respectively. Significant relationships emerged between the color blue and winning the match with small asymmetry in the men’s UZB-SC and between the color red and winning the match with large asymmetry in the female ITA-SC. The implementation of the electronic point recording system for the body and head has had a positive impact on fairness in national taekwondo competitions, did not detect any effect of color related to cultural context, and did not allow for the color red to tip the scales between losing and winning in matches between athletes of similar ability and strength.

When Taekwondo Referees See Red, but It Is an Electronic System That Gives the Points

Previous studies in taekwondo have considered the use of the manual scoring system or the electronic system with only the use of the electronic body protector. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the color protectors and success in 1,327 taekwondo matches from six World Grand Prix Series of two 4-year Olympic periods when electronic body and head protectors are used. In the total sample, the results did not show a relationship between the match outcome and the color of the protectors (p = 0.97, C = 0.001). For the individual six editions, the results showed a positive and strong relationship between wearing blue protectors and winning matches and one between wearing red protectors and winning matches (p = 0.001, C = 0.19; p = 0.001; C = 0.19). Regarding the weight categories, 8 and 5 of 48 showed higher percentages of blue and red winners, respectively. Regarding sex, male competitors showed a positive relationship between blue color and winning the match in 6 of 24 weight categories, and wearing red and winning the match was shown in 2 of 24 weight categories. Female competitors showed a positive relationship between blue color and winning the match in 2 of 24 weight categories, and wearing red and winning the match was shown in 3 of 24 weight categories. When it comes to the influence of being a seeded athlete, the results did show a significant confounding effect on the color of the protectors worn by the winner of the match in 2 of 13 weight categories in which a color effect was observed (p = 0.02, C = 0.28; p = 0.02, C = 0.28). In conclusion, wearing red does not provide a higher chance of winning the match. It seems that seeing red has a stronger effect than wearing red, especially in male contenders. Moreover, being a seeded athlete does not explain the result of the match. It seems that the introduction of the electronic helmet protector, in addition to the electronic body protector, made the scoring system more objective, decreasing the advantage of wearing red in winning matches.

The Issue of Unconscious Bias in Referee Decisions in the National Rugby League

Referees are appointed to be impartial sporting figures. They are trained to provide leadership and guidance, interpret infractions, adjudicate rules, all while maintaining the highest levels of objectivity and sense. However, when decisions are driven by individual heuristics, limited information, context, goal motivations, emotions, time pressures and cognitive load, it can be difficult to discern how and why particular referee judgements are made. In this paper, we draw on data from the major Rugby League competition in Australia between the years 1978 to 2019 to examine whether clubs fare significantly better or worse under particular National Rugby League referees. We examine potential causes that might contribute to the referee effect and ask why, after years of specialist training and game assessments, are rugby league referees, even at the elite professional level, still processing information in preferential ways.

Color Perception and Attentional Load in Dynamic, Time-Constrained Environments

The capacity to perceive color in the peripheral field has attracted research interest for more than a decade. There is evidence that sensitivity to red-green color variations is lower than for yellow-blue in peripheral vision. Whether, and to what extent, color vision affects the visual focus of attention, which is normally much smaller than the visual field, has not yet been examined. We used a sport-specific decision-making task to assess whether the color of the jersey worn by players appearing in the periphery influences decision making by affecting the attentional and perceptual capabilities. Pairs of players wearing chromatic (blue, yellow, red, and green) and achromatic (black, white) colored jerseys were briefly presented across a range of visual angles on a 6 m concave immersive screen. Participants were required to decide to whom to pass and recall relevant information. Findings indicate that color perception changes vary with increasing visual angle, but that the focus of attention is too small to be influenced by jersey color sensitivity. Decision-making performance decreases with increasing visual angle, but is not influenced by color. The implications for decision-making processes in sport and other professional domains are discussed.