Finally, we conducted four experiments designed to test
whether nonconscious avoidance motivation mediates the deleterious
effect of red on intellectual performance (Maier, Elliot, &
Lichtenfeld, 2007). In the final experiment in this series, participants
were shown red or gray on the cover of an IQ test and then
completed a visual-matching task assessing local (relative to
global) processing of stimuli. Local processing represents an often
rigid constricting of attention to the ‘‘trees’’ as opposed to the
‘‘forest’’ and is a well-established indicator of avoidance motivation.
After the visual-matching task, participants completed an IQ
test. Results indicated that participants shown red performed
worse and evidenced more local processing than did those shown
gray. Furthermore, local processing was shown to mediate the
direct effect of red on performance—that is, red led to more local
processing, which in turn undermined performance.