Wiki Page, ART B: Friday Lesson- Psychology/ Color

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2021-12-01T08:30:03-08:00

Color theory and emotion are interconnected

Artists and scientists alike argue that one's mood or emotional state can be influenced by color. In this lesson, we will examine color theory and how colors can affect one's emotions.

Background

Color theory dates back to Sir Isaac Newton, who is credited with developing the first color wheel and the traditional study of color theory. Since the beginning of color theory, many scientists and interdisciplinary professionals such as psychologists, artists, and scholars have argued that color affects mood and emotion. Many definitions exist for color theory, and in this lesson we will take a look at the basics in order to understand how it may affect moods and emotional states of individuals. We will also look at how specific colors may affect moods and emotional states.

What Is Color Theory?

Color theory began during the eighteenth century with Sir Isaac Newton's study of the primary colors-- red, yellow, and blue. Color theory deals with how color is perceived when mixed together, as well as how colors work together to create balance. For example, red and green are considered complementary colors because they balance each other out and produce an appealing contrast.

Color theory is important in design and art because certain colors or color combinations have positive or negative influences on one's mood or emotional state. For example, a kitchen painted red may invoke feelings of anger, or even increase one's appetite. Let's take a deeper look into how color affects moods and emotions.

How Does Color Affect Emotion?

In 1810, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published Theory of Colors and elaborated on the psychology of colors. Many scholars adamantly refuted his work. Although no hard evidence exists to confirm that color affects emotion or mood, many experts in a variety of disciplines argue that colors do influence individuals' moods, emotions, and even behaviors. Each color is said to produce a different effect; let's look at how moods and emotions are influenced by the main colors.

Red

Red inspires intense emotion and mood. The color is known to increase energy levels, appetite, and creativity. Likewise, red can increase one's blood pressure, leading to feelings of anxiety or aggression. Professionals advise against painting bedrooms red because it increases energy levels and has the potential to disturb a restful night's sleep.

Blue

Blue can trigger a calm emotional state because it is perceived as a stable, serene color. Interestingly, the color blue has been shown to slow the metabolism, which can result in a depressed state of mind. Rooms painted blue are often associated with coldness and emptiness, and can have a negative impact on an individual's emotional state.

Green

Green is a natural color and the result of mixing yellow with blue. Green has the ability to stabilize one's emotions and is often perceived as a 'safe' color. The color has been associated with increased productivity as well; many interior designers recommend painting office rooms green.

Yellow

Yellow yields appealing and unappealing results depending on its brightness. Bright yellow hues are associated with happy emotional states. Likewise, bright shades of yellow have the ability to increase productivity and generate feelings of positivity. On the other hand, dull yellow shades can be displeasing to the eye and cause a disagreeable attitude.

How much yellow is used in a space impacts mood as well. For example, it has been noted that babies tend to cry more in a room painted all yellow. Why? Yellow activates the part of the brain that triggers anxiety. Splashes or accents of yellow tend to have a more positive impact on emotion and produce feelings of calmness.

Orange

Bright orange correlates to creativity, joy, and energy; while lighter shades of orange have calming properties. Orange has the ability to increase respiration, oxygen levels in the brain, and appetite. Given these abilities, it could be said the orange lends to a more positive emotional state than other colors.

Lesson Summary

Since the development of the color wheel, color theory has developed into a body of information that investigates how color is perceived and how colors work together. Color can have a remarkable effect on a person's mood and emotional state. Red and orange have stimulating properties, while blue and green tend to be more calming. Yellow sits in the middle of these colors, having the ability to energize and calm a person's emotional state.

What Is Color Psychology?

Most high school classrooms are all the same color: sky blue. Do you remember what color the walls in your high school were? Or what the color scheme was at the last fast-food chain you visited? Turns out, this little detail of color isn't random; in fact, colors can have a real impact on human behavior and emotions. This idea goes as far back as ancient Egypt, but it gained greater attention through the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung.

Color psychology is the study of colors in order to better understand their impact on human behavior and emotions. Close your eyes and think about the color white. What did you imagine and feel? If you're like most people, you thought of clouds, brides, or babies. The color white is associated with purity and goodness for most people.

Don't worry if you didn't think of those things, though. There's no doubt that colors have an impact, but they don't always have the same effect on everyone. Scientists know that age, gender, culture, and experiences all shape how a person views colors. So if white made you think of pain because of the time you got a shot at the doctors' office, that's totally normal, too.

Experimenting with Colors

Advertisers and marketing companies spend a lot of time strategically studying how to use color to get us to buy whatever they are selling, but science hasn't built a large body of research on the topic. What data science has uncovered is mostly applied, meaning that experiments have been conducted to figure out what effect color has on a specific topic, like what colors will make children more calm. These experiments don't go on to dig into why children are calmer in blue rooms or why we buy more when we see the color red. Those types of experiments would be theoretical, or based on looking at the psychology behind the behavior and not just the behavior itself. Do you see how these are different?

This doesn't mean that colors have zero impact on mood and behavior, but, rather, that psychologists know these relationships exist but don't know all the answers as to why. Let's look at a few experiments that have been conducted about color and behavior:

In 2000, some neighborhoods in Glasgow, Scotland, installed blue street lights and found the neighborhoods with the blue lights reported less crime than those with regular lighting. The color blue is often associated with a calm feeling and is used in many instances to promote peace. Another reason for the decrease in crime could be the association people have between the color blue and police uniforms. Also, the change in light color to blue may have made some people more alert, thereby decreasing crime.

A study conducted in 2012 looked at the relationship between color and food. Researchers found that the appearance of the food (including the plate it was served on) had an impact on whether or not the participants wanted to eat the food. If the plate was an icky color, the food was perceived to be not-so-good as well. Researchers also know the color blue acts as an appetite suppressant, and the color pink is associated with sweets.

An experiment in 1997 found that the color of pills impacts their effectiveness. When participants were given placebo pills, or pills that didn't have any medicine in them, of differing colors, they found that hot-colored pills (red/orange) reported better results as stimulants, and cool-colored pills (blue/purple) had better results as relaxing drugs, even though neither pill really had any medicine at all. Our brains associate the color of the pill with the effect the pill will have.

These and other experiments have proven that color can impact us in countless ways. What about the color of your car or dishes in your kitchen? Why do you think you chose those colors?

Psychology and Colors

Scientists have noticed a few things about colors and human behavior. Tests and experiments have shown that colors do, in fact, have meaning - like blue for boys and pink for girls. That meaning may be based on what you learned from your parents, community, or society, or it may have something to do with your biology - what genes your ancestors passed on to you. When you see color, the response is automatic: You don't process blue and consciously think 'boy.' These subconscious color observations impact your behavior as well. Young children don't sit in a blue room and think, 'I think I'll behave because the room is this nice, cool shade of blue.' The impact of the color on their behavior happens without thought. Finally, color perception is also influenced by context. If you're at a baby shower, blue will clearly mean the baby is a boy. However, if you're at a baseball game, it means the Cubs, Dodgers, or Royals.

Lesson Summary

Colors surround us - there's no escaping them. Humans have known that colors impact mood and behavior for a long time, and psychology is still working to figure out just what these associations mean. The impact of color on your purchasing habits may be obvious, but what about more complex responses, such as behavior or eating habits? A few experiments have been conducted to show the results of color on crime, food desirability, or the effect of medicine. All these tests have shown that color does indeed affect us. However, science has a lot of work to do figuring out exactly why this is true. A few things are known for sure. Responses to color are:

Subconscious

Change depending on the context

Can be different depending on culture, age, or gender