Wearing black clothes: the impact of offenders’ and suspects’ clothing on impression formation

People usually associate the colour black with evil, aggression and badness. It was hypothesized that this association would influence people's perception, i.e. it was expected that offenders and suspects who wore black clothes would be seen as more aggressive than those who wore light-coloured clothes. In two experiments the colour of clothing of offenders and suspects was manipulated and the effect of this manipulation on observers' perception was investigated. The results indicated strong support for the hypothesis. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.