Color Psychology

Color Psychology

Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do weightlifters do their best in blue gyms?

It is a well-known fact that color influences mood and feeling in common experience, however, the field of color psychology is still not well understood. Research on the psychological aspects of color is difficult for the mere reason that human emotions are not very stable and the psychic make-up of human beings varies from person to person. Nevertheless, there are a number of general and universal reactions to color, which seem to be noted in most persons. According to fundamental psychology, Freudians relate hues back to bodily function, while Jungians tend towards a more liberal interpretation of hues, believing that the individual's response to color is too complex to allow a simple mode of interpretation. As a matter of fact, many contradictions and ambiguities arose during research, especially in research of psychological effects of color because some studies tend to be subjective in their point of view rather than more scientific. This is because emotional reactions are not easy to measure. However, there are some commonalities that can be found from the resources.

Infants as young as two months old prefer colorful objects to non-color. Young children are color-dominant and are more attracted by color than shape. As they mature, they will often become more form-dominant; however, creative people often remain color-dominant all their lives. Eye-tracking studies that record infants' attention spans indicate that, regardless of sex, red and blue are the most preferred colors. As we grow older, habituation or learning...

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...nd yellow had a major psychological effect on its customers. It found that the correct color combination could attract extra customers, compel them to enter the store, and spend more money and feel better about it.

Luxury car companies such as Mercedes and Jaguar advertise their products with a predominance of black (sophistication) and silver (prestige). Jaguar markets to people with high incomes who view themselves as sophisticated, and look for a prestigious vehicle. Volkswagen however primarily uses the colors yellow (happiness), and orange (playfulness). (Matches the type of owners that Volkswagen is trying to attract, don’t you think?)

Although research has been conducted for a number of years regarding exactly what effects colors have on people, studies still seem to appear inconclusive with no definitive answer as to how color affects people’s lives.