Following the findings of Greenlees and
colleagues, and in line with the evolutionary argumentation concerning the color
red (Hill & Barton, 2005), we expected that red jerseys would increase the effect of dominant nonverbal behavior on impression formation compared with white
jerseys. If, on the other hand, the cultural explanation offered by Greenlees et al.
(2008) accounted for the effect, then one may not find this effect among German
goalkeepers. Although no research exists demonstrating an association between
jersey color and soccer performance in Germany, it may be possible that the color
white is associated with successful penalty-taking performance because the German
national team has predominantly worn white and has been highly successful in
major penalty shootouts (Jordet, 2009).