The influence of color on emotion (original) (raw)

Chapter 11. Unifying research on colour and emotion

Progress in Colour Studies, 2018

Popular opinions link colours and emotions. Yet, affective connotations to colours are heterogeneous (e.g. red represents anger and love) partly because they relate to different contexts. Despite insufficient evidence, colours are used in applied settings (health, marketing, etc.) for their supposed effects on cognitive and affective functioning. Summarizing the literature, we invite for systematic research to investigate when and how colours link with affective phenomena. We need to i) distinguish between situations in which colours are physically shown or linguistically treated, ii) specify types of affective processes (e.g. emotion, mood, preference), and iii) investigate cross-cultural differences. Having these needs in mind, we initiated an international online survey on semantic colour-emotion associations. We outline theoretical considerations and present the survey's design.

Effects of Color on Emotions

Emotional reactions to color hue, saturation, and brightness (Munsell color system and color chips) were investigated using the Pleasure-Aiousal-Dominance emotion model. Saturation (S) and brightness (B) evidenced strong and consistent effects on emotions. Regression equations for standardized variables were: Pleasure = .69B + .228, Arousal = -.31B + .60S, Dominance = -.76B + .328. Brightness effects were nearly the same for chromatic and achromatic colors. Blue, blue-green, green, red-purple, purple, and purple-blue were the most pleasant hues, whereas yellow and green-yellow were the least pleasant. Green-yellow, blue-green, and green were the most arousing, whereas purple-blue and yellow-red were the least arousing. Green-yellow induced greater dominance than red-purple.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLOR AND EMOTION: A STUDY OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

Ninety-eight college students were asked to indicate their emotional responses to five principle hues (i.e., red, yellow, green, blue, purple), five intermediate hues (i.e., yellow-red, green-yellow, blue-green, purple-blue, and red-purple), and three achromatic colors (white, gray, and black) and the reasons for their choices. The color stimuli were referenced from the Munsell Color System. The results revealed that the principle hues comprised the highest number of positive emotional responses, followed by the intermediate hues and the achromatic colors. The color green evoked mainly positive emotions such as relaxation and comfort because it reminded most of the respondents of nature. The color green-yellow had the lowest number of positive responses because it was associated with vomit and elicited the feelings of sickness and disgust. For the achromatic colors, white attained a large number of positive responses, followed by the colors black and gray. The reasons for the color-emotion associations are discussed and future research areas are suggested.

Influence of colours in the perception of emotions - AIC2014

Several fields of colour study show that each colour has a meaning and causes a feeling, or a set of feelings, on the observer. Colours influence our reasoning and corresponding actions. We state that colours are agents of the relationship between perception and emotion. It is established knowledge that emotional responses are more intense to certain stimuli. From the viewpoint of the interpretation of emotions, this statement triggers the following question: what is the relationship between colour and an emotional perception? This question arose during the preparation of the practical component of the research integrated in the doctoral thesis under development by the main author of this paper and its supervisors. Using a set of shopping windows as focal stimulus, the research techniques adopted encompass cross-analysis of emotional responses obtained through observational techniques as well as surveys. At a certain stage, the respondents are asked about the perceived emotion when there is a prevalence of a certain colour. We hypothesized that emotional response varies according to the colour that predominates in the environment, whether in the significance of the situation, whether in intensity. To confirm or reject this hypothesis, a field test was carried out that runs parallel to the thesis. The field test uses illustrations of facial expressions that were inserted in seven frames with seven different colours. The survey is based on issues about the perceived emotion in each illustration, the relationship between the seven colours and emotion, as well as the relationship between the intensity of seven colours with every emotion dealt in the illustrations. The group of respondents include Brazilians and Portuguese, which generates cross-cultural data on multiple relationships. This test corroborates the results obtained in the research field of colour and emotion developed within the larger universe of design research. Emotions in the perceptual process In every moment of our daily lives we make decisions, take action and have certain attitudes without having awareness of the causes. This occurs because emotions lead our

IJERT-A Link Between Colors and Emotions; A Study of Undergraduate Females

International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT), 2020

https://www.ijert.org/a-link-between-colors-and-emotions-a-study-of-undergraduate-females https://www.ijert.org/research/a-link-between-colors-and-emotions-a-study-of-undergraduate-females-IJERTV9IS090319.pdf This study examined the association of 3 primary colors blue, red and yellow (Munsell color system) and 3 neutral colors: black, white and grey to 4 emotions: happiness, fear, anger and sadness, in females 18-21 years old. The undergraduate females from various background, courses and age were required to associate the colors to the specific emotions and state why. It was predicted that the three primary colors would be associated with high energy emotions such as anger and happiness and the three neutral colors with low energy emotions such as sadness and fear in the sample. In the results, more than half of the subjects associated the primary colors with happiness, anger. Black, was associated majorly with happiness, red with fear, grey to sadness, White with fear. The color blue was poorly linked with anger and strongly with happiness like the color yellow across all the age groups.

Emotion and Expression Responses Through Colour: A Literature Review

The paper reviews the literature review of previous studies on colour and emotion/ association. A total of 10 journals pertaining to studies on colour and emotion association were used in this paper. Findings revealed that emotion and mood has a profound effect on the choice of colours.

A Study of the Factors Affecting Colour Meaning and Emotional Response

Colour design research studies are concerned with identifying colour preferences and emotion elicited by colours, and a deep understanding of the aspects shaping these emotions will lead to better exploitation of colour design. This study highlights the aspects that contribute to human emotional response to colour. Hue, brightness and chroma are colour attributes used in different colour model identifying colours. Brightness and chroma in most studies affect the hue on colour emotion association. Colour context, texture and size are also discussed in terms of contribution to colour motion response. Other factors such as time span and culture impact the colour emotion link and aspects related to humans including personality, age, gender and preference to colour and/or emotion are discussed. The findings of this research will benefit marketers and designers to understand the effective usage of colour in design making in its aesthetical and functional aspects.

What colour do you feel? Colour choices are driven by felt mood

2019

Popular opinion holds that color has specific affective meaning. Brighter, more chromatic, and warm colors were conceptually linked to positive stimuli and darker, less chromatic, and cool colors to negative stimuli. Whether such systematic color associations exist with actually felt mood remains to be tested. We experimentally induced four moods-joy, relaxation, fear, and sadness-in a between-subject design (N = 96). Subsequently, we asked participants to select a color, from an unrestricted sample, best representing their current mood. Color choices differed between moods on hue, lightness, and chroma. Yellow hues were systematically associated with joy while yellowgreen hues with relaxation. Lighter colors were matched to joy and relaxation (positive moods) than fear and sadness (negative moods). Most chromatic colors were matched to joy, then relaxation, fear, and sadness. We conclude that color choices represent felt mood to some extent, after accounting for a relatively low specificity for color-mood associations.

How Red, Blue, and Green are Affectively Judged

The present study aimed at examining how the colors red, blue, and green were affectively judged through three variables: dominance, arousal, and pleasure. All participants were exposed to red, blue, green, and white (control condition), which were created using the hue-saturation-value color model. Then, participants were invited to rate their perceptions using the selfassessment manikin. Results showed that (a) red was strongly associated with dominance and arousal; (b) blue was moderately and slightly associated with dominance and arousal, respectively; (c) green was slightly associated with arousal; and (d) blue and green were slightly more pleasurable than red. These results provide initial insights into how people perceive colors through the notions of dominance, arousal, and pleasure. Important practical implications for the use of colors are discussed.