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Colors And
Human Behavior
Color Vision.
|
How
Colors Affect Human Behavior
by Regina Bailey
Color psychology is the study of how colors affect human
behavior, mood, or physiological processes.
Colors are thought to
influence our buying choices, our feelings, and even our memories. Ideas
related to color psychology are heavily implemented in the areas of
marketing and design.
Companies choose colors
that they believe will motivate customers to buy their products and improve
brand awareness.
Colors have even been
used in color therapy techniques to treat various diseases.
Color Perception
Color psychology is a
relatively new area of study that faces several challenges.
A major difficulty that
arises when investigating this topic is determining how to actually measure the
effects of color.
Color perception is very
subjective, as different people have different ideas about and responses to
colors.
Several factors influence
color perception, which makes it difficult to determine if color alone impacts
our emotions and actions.
Factors that influence
color perception include age, gender, and culture. In some
cultures, for example, white is associated with happiness and purity.
In a situation where a
woman is wearing a white wedding dress, is she happy because she is influenced
by the color white or because she is getting married?
To someone from a
different culture, wearing white may signify sadness. This is because in those
cultures, white is associated with grief and death.
These and similar factors
must be considered when investigating the influence of colors on human emotions
and behavior.
Color Associations
While no direct cause and
effect relationship between color and behavior has been found, some
generalizations about colors and what they may symbolize have been
determined.
Colors including red,
yellow, and orange are considered warm colors and
are thought to stimulate excited emotions.
Cool colors are found on the blue end of the visible
light spectrum and include blue, violet, and green. These colors are associated
with calmness, coolness, and tranquility.
Color symbolism is often employed in the field of graphic design and
publishing to evoke certain emotions.
Whether influenced
by age, gender, culture, or not, research studies indicate that colors do have
some impact on physiology, behavior, and mood in some individuals.
Red
Ideas, attitudes, and
emotions associated with the color red include:
·
Warning
·
Love
·
Courage
·
Aggression
·
Rage
Red is the longest wavelength of light on
the visible light spectrum.
In western cultures, red
is associated with power, control, and strength. It also signals danger and
triggers alertness.
Red on traffic lights
signal drivers to be alert and to stop. Some animals, such as snakes,
have red coloration to indicate that they are dangerous and deadly.
Red also signifies
passion and invokes the fight or flight response. This instinct is triggered by
the brain's amygdala when
we are confronted with danger or a threatening situation. It is what causes us
to either fight or flee.
Red is thought to
raise metabolism and blood pressure,
which are needed to prepare for action during an alarming situation.
Blue
Associations with the
color blue include:
·
Trust
·
Efficiency
·
Coolness
·
Security
·
Sadness
Blue is associated with calmness and
tranquility. It is a symbol of logic, communication, and intelligence.
It is linked with low
stress, low temperature, and low pulse rate. Blue is also associated with a
lack of warmth, emotional distance, and indifference.
In spite of the negative
associations, blue is often chosen as the most popular color in research surveys worldwide.
In research studies, blue
light has also been found to reset our circadian rhythms or
sleep-wake cycles.
It is the blue
wavelengths of light from the sun that inhibit the pineal gland from
releasing melatonin during the day. Melatonin signals
the body that it is time to sleep. Blue light stimulates us to stay awake.
Yellow
Yellow is vivid and
lively. Associations with yellow include:
·
Energy
·
Hope
·
Honor
·
Fear
·
Frailness
Yellow is a bright color and the most visible
color to the eye. It is associated with happiness, friendliness, and signifies
competence.
Yellow is the color of optimism
and creativity. It attracts our attention and signifies caution as yellow is
often used along with black on traffic signs, taxis, and school buses.
Interestingly, yellow is
also associated with fear, cowardice, and sickness.
Green
Green symbolizes ideas
such as:
·
Health
·
Compassion
·
Favor
·
Ambition
·
Passivity
Green is located between yellow and blue on
the visible light spectrum and represents balance.
It is the color of
springtime and is commonly associated with growth, life, fertility, and nature.
Green represents safety
and is linked to prosperity, wealth, good fortune, and finances.
It is considered a
relaxing, soothing color that is thought to have a calming effect and to
relieve stress.
Negative associations with green include greed, jealousy,
apathy, and lethargy.
Orange
Associations with the
color orange include:
·
Wisdom
·
Pleasure
·
Desire
·
Pride
·
Loneliness
Orange is found between red and yellow on the
visible light spectrum.
It is thought to
symbolize qualities that are a combination of the high-energy color red and the
emotionally upbeat color yellow. Orange is associated with warmth, enthusiasm,
and encouragement.
Orange is thought
to affect appetite
by increasing hunger. It also is thought to increase mental activity and
acumen. In research studies, exposure to orange light has been shown to improve
cognition and alertness.
Orange is the primary
color of fall and is also associated with summer. Light shades of orange are
considered welcoming, while dark shades are identified with dishonesty.
Purple
Purple represents ideas
and attitudes related to:
·
Wealth
·
Dignity
·
Wisdom
·
Arrogance
·
Impatience
Purple or violet is the shortest wavelength on
the visible light spectrum. It is a combination of blue and red and represents
nobility, power, and royalty.
Purple communicates
a sense of worth, quality, and value. It is also associated with
spirituality, sacredness, and gracefulness.
Light purple colors
represent romance and delicateness, while dark purple symbolizes sorrow, fear,
and apprehensiveness.
Pink
Pink is considered a fun
color that also represents:
·
Joyfulness
·
Sweetness
·
Calmness
·
Passiveness
·
Lack of
willpower
Pink is the color most associated with
femininity. It is tied to ideas of happiness, love, playfulness, and warmth.
Pink is also related to
harmony and closeness. Light pink signifies sensitivity and kindness, while hot
pink represents passion and flirtatiousness.
Pink is thought to have a
calming effect and many prisons have pink holding cells in an attempt to reduce
violent behavior among inmates.
Negative associations with the color pink include immaturity,
physical weakness, and low self-confidence.
Black
Associations with black
include:
·
Aggression
·
Gloom
·
Security
·
Coldness
·
Emptiness
Black absorbs all wavelengths of the visible
light spectrum. It does not reflect color and adding black to a color
creates different shades of the color.
Black is viewed as
mysterious, and in many cultures, it is associated with fear, death, the
unknown, and evil.
It also represents power,
authority, and sophistication.
Black signifies
seriousness, independence, and is commonly associated with sadness and
negativity.
White
White is perceived as
delicate and pure. Other associations with white include:
·
Perfection
·
Sterility
·
Cleanliness
·
Goodness
·
Coldness
White is the opposite of black and reflects
all wavelengths of the visible light spectrum. When added to black, white
lightens its color.
In eastern cultures,
white is associated with grief and death. In western cultures, it represents
purity, innocence, and sterility.
White is also associated
with safety, spirituality, and faith. Negative associations with
white include isolation, emptiness, and a sense of inaccessibility.
How We See Color
We don't actually see
colors with our eyes. We see colors with our brains.
Our eyes are important
for detecting and responding to light, but it is the brain's visual center in the occipital lobes that processes visual
information and assigns color. The colors we see are determined by the
wavelength of light that is reflected.
Visible color wavelengths range from
about 380 nanometers (nm) to about 750 nanometers. Different colors along the
visible light spectrum have different wavelengths.
For example, red has
wavelengths ranging from 620-750 nm, yellow from 570-590 nm, and blue from
450-495 nm.
Our eyes are equipped with
special photoreceptors called rods and cones.
Rods are more sensitive to light than cones
and allow us to see in dim light. Rods are not able to detect color.
Cones detect a range of color light
wavelengths.
Our eyes have three types
of cones: blue, green, and red. The red cones are most sensitive to red
wavelengths, blue cones to blue wavelengths, and green cones to green
wavelengths.
When a color is reflected
from an object, the light wavelength hits the eyes and cones send signals to
the visual cortex of the brain for processing.
Our brain associates the
wavelength with a color. Although our eyes have three cone types, the different
wavelengths of light detected by the cones overlap.
The brain integrates
these overlapping wavelength signals sent from cones enabling us to distinguish
between millions of different colors.
Regina Bailey
Introduction
Biology expert for ThoughtCo
(formerly About Education) since 1997
Author of the forward to The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Cloning
Experience
Regina is the owner of a
content development firm specializing in the development of biology and
science-related content. She has written about biology for ThoughtCo (formerly
About Education) since 1997.
Regina's expertise has been
featured and/or referenced in Kaplan AP Biology 2016, The Internet
for Cellular and Molecular Biologists, and The Seven Disciplines of
Wellness: The Spiritual Connection to Good Health.
Regina also wrote the forward
to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Cloning.
Education
Regina holds a B.A. in biology
from Emory University.
ThoughtCo and Dotdash
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