Investigation Of The Impact Of The Uniform Colors Of Sportsmen Who Participated In Turkish Youth Boxing Championship On Their Performance During The Competition

The purpose of the present study is to elucidate the relationship between performance impacts of red and blue colors on uniforms of young boxers and competition results. The study universe was consisted of 650 competitions organized in the scope of 2005-2006 Sakarya City Young Men Boxing Championship by the Turkey Boxing Federation. Sampling of the study was constituted by 562 competitions which were selected randomly from the universe. In terms of data collection, video analyses of preliminary selection, semi-final and final competitions were conducted so that x2 test evaluation could be performed for the numbers of wining of sportsmen in blue and red color uniforms based on the competition results. According to the results obtained through this research; when general total result of the competitions and preliminary selection results is considered, it was found that sportsmen in blue uniform are more successful against the ones in red uniform. When semi-final and final competitions were considered, it was found that wearing blue and red color uniforms is not significantly relevant with the competition results of the sportsmen. OPEN ACCESS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 9483 It is well known that colors have important place in sports life as well besides the fact that it has dominant place in human life. It has been observed that colors in sports have recently taken attention due to its impact on performances of sportsmen. While the primary element that could affect the personal perception was verbal communication, the second element is dressing. Knapp & Hall (2002) reported that dressing is a phenomenon that leaves a significant impression about the person at the first sight and that is useful for many purposes (sexual appeal, group identity, sovereignty and status signs) except only one function. The researches in the sports field revealed that dressing style (Greenlees et al., 2005 a, 2005b) and colors (Frank & Gilovich, 1988, Julie et al., 2007) create perceptional differences on individuals as a result of their impact. As there are numerous studies in the literature concerning colors’ impact on human beings in terms of psychological aspects (Dreiskaemper, et al., (2013); Dijkstra et al., 2005; Pryke & Griffith, (2006); Evan & Norris, (1996); Baube (1997); Cuthill et al., (1997)), it can be said that clear results have not been obtained about impact levels of colors on psychology of sportsmen because there are no sufficient resources in literature, which research how colors affect sportsmen mood. By considering competition results, it was observed that there have not been much researches investigating whether colors affect sportsmen psychology. When content of these researches was reviewed, studies investigating impact levels of red, blue and white colors on sportsmen based on the competition results stand out. Other researches relevant with our study are Dijkstra and Preenen, (2005): “No effect of blue on winning contests in judo”; Hill & Barton (2005), “Red does not enhance human performance in the Olympics, Seeing red? & Putting sportswear in context”; Attrill, M. J. et al., (2008) “Red shirt color is associated with long-term team success in English football”; and etc. When we review the results of these studies, it is evident that there are differences among these results. According to the findings of Dijkstra and Preenen (2005) whose study is concerning judo sports, wearing blue or white color uniforms does not provide any superiority to the judo sportsmen in competition. Despite of the study of Dijkstra and Preenen (2008), Hill & Barton (2005), Attrill et al. (2008), Greenlees et al. (2008), Miguel et al. (2011) and Caldwell & Burger (2011), Greenlees et al. (2013) reported in their studies that red color may induce aggression and may affect winning possibility in a positive way.The present study especially put forward whether ages and cultural values of sportsmen have impact on their performances and behaviors due to color change. Our research reviewed winning results obtained from the competitions of young sportsmen who participated to the Turkey Youth and Stars Boxing Championship organized by the Turkish Boxing Federation. When we evaluate other researches (Adam K. Fetterman, Tianwei Liu, Michael D. Robinson (2014) Dijkstra and Preenen (2008); Attrill, M. J. et al. (2008); Hill & Barton (2005)), it was seen that results were obtained through analysis of competition result of adult and professional sportsmen. When we investigated the competition results of the obtained studies, it was seen that the impact of wearing red and blue color uniform on performances of sportsmen was emphasized. The distinguished part of our study from the others in the literature is our dedication to reveal whether colors have impact on sports performances of youth, or not.