The Psychology of Colors Kristine Slaughter Salt Lake Community College

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Psychology of Colors This paper explores the psychology of colors through the Color Theory; a well-known theory that is concerned with the effects of color on behavior, emotion, and mood. Daniel Schacter, Daniel Gilbert and Daniel Wegner explain in Introducing Psychology exactly how the eye perceives color and Cameron Chapmans article on The Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color as well as Tiger Colors Introduction to Color Theory goes in depth about the psychological effect that color has. Close your eyes and imagine life without color. Gray blooming tulips, black and white sunsets and dull charcoal gray, crashing waves of the ocean. It may seem like a unique site to see due to the fact that it is not something you see normally. However, keep imagining that black and white sunset and turn your world colorless, dull and black; like a huge gray storm swept over everything you see and took away all existence of color. Colors affect our daily lives more than we know, but how? Our eyes are a complex organ that perceives color; which then affects our mood based on many theories. How do we see color? You may think that is an absurd question that everyone knows. Of course the answer is your eyes. Humans have five senses; one of which is vision. Vision is light reflected from surfaces that provide the eyes with information about the shape, color, and positions of objects (Schacter et al., 2011). Eyes are such a magnificent and complex organ. To see a color, light first reaches the eye, passing through a clear tissue on the outer portion of the eye. This clear, smooth tissue is your cornea. After passing through the cornea the light then passes through your pupil. The colored portion of the eye, the iris, is much more than just a color. The iris is a muscle. Translucent in color (not quite clear to permit the passing of light) the iris controls the size of the pupil. This restricts a certain amount of light to enter your pupil. Think of the iris as the gate keeper of the pupil, controlling how much light can enter and how

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much cannot. Simple right? Wrong, this is where it gets complicated and intricate. Directly behind the iris are muscles that control the shape of the lens, bending the light and focusing it onto the retina. How does a wavelength of light become an image of color and significance? Cones. Cones in your eye detect color during the day and rods do the same during dark conditions. However, rods only sense shades of gray (Schacter et al., 2011). Sir Isaac Newton stated that color is not something in light; color is nothing but our perception of wavelengths from the spectrum of visible light (Schacter et al., 2011). The shortest visible wavelength we perceive as purple and as the wavelength increases we perceive blue, then green, yellow, orange, and finally red. This is how we perceive bold, pastel, dull and rich colors. The Color Theory There are many theories on how color can change ones state of mind and affect ones mood. One well known theory is the Color Theory. The Color Theory, though subjective, is very intriguing. What evokes one reaction in one person make cause a very different reaction in another (Chapman et al. 2010). Many things can influence this reaction such as culture, environment, and personal opinion. The Color Theorys foundation is built on three color families; warm colors, cool colors, and neutrals. Warm Colors Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow. Imagine a warm summer sunset, the fall leaves, or a blazing fire. What feelings do they provoke? Generally warm colors elicit energy, passion, and positivity (Chapman et al. 2010). Red evokes two extremes. Violence and love. Think of warfare, the Devil, hearts, and Cupid. Red has also been proven to physically affect people, causing respiration rates and blood pressure to elevate and enhance human metabolism. Orange is vibrant and energetic. Think of fresh oranges, blooming flowers, and falling autumn

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leaves. People associate orange with the changing season and fruit; causing orange to represent change, movement, health and vitality (Chapman et al. 2010). Yellow is seen as the brightest and most energetic of the warm colors. Close your eyes and imagine the warm sunshine and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. Yellow is associated with sunshine, happiness, deceit, and cowardice. Cool Colors These are the cool colors; the colors of water, nature, and the dark night. Green is a rich, earthy color; think of green rolling hills in the summer. The color signifies abundance and renewal however can be perceived as envy, jealousy and a lack of experience (Chapman et al. 2010). Lets dive into blue by imagining the subtle waves of the ocean. Blue can be refreshing, strong, reliable, peaceful, yet sad. Have you ever felt blue on a dark stormy day? Or found peace and serenity walking on the sandy beach while the blue tide splashed against your feet? Lets combine that blue with red and explore the beauty of purple. For a long time purple was directly associated with royalty (Chapman et al. 2010). Deep, rich purples are associated with wealth, and luxury; while lighter/softer purples giving the impression of romance and spring (Chapman et al. 2010). Warm and cool colors can portray both positive and negative emotion. If everything we see with our eyes was a warm or cool color, our emotions may become too overwhelmed! Luckily, there is a third part to the Color Theory; neutrals. Neutral Colors Neutral colors consist of Black, white, gray, brown, beige and tan. Black is the strongest of the neutral colors. It is associated with power, elegance, evil, death, and mystery (Chapman et al. 2010). Walking into a completely black room you may feel scared due to the unknown and

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the mystery that black evokes. On the other end of the spectrum is white. White is associated with purity, cleanliness, virtue, health care, and goodness. Imagine a pure, blooming white daisy or an angels elegant wings; both pure and clean. In between these colors is gray. Generally gray is considered to be moody, depressing, and conservative. However, on a more positive side, gray can be seen as formal and professional. Black, white and gray are thought to be the only neutral colors, but theres more! Lets splash a little warm color into the mix and create brown. The earth, wood, stone, dirt; a warm neutral. Brown is associated with dependability, reliability, steadfastness, dullness and earthiness (Chapman et al. 2010). Now time to mix in some white and create beige and tan. These are unique colors because they can either take on a cool or a warm tone, all depending on the colors surrounding it. Beige and tan are a very conservative color and symbolize piety. With color you can create a statement or change a mood through the psychology of colors. Tiger Media states, With colors you can set a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. You can use color to energize, or to cool down. By selecting the right color scheme, you can create an ambiance of elegance, warmth or tranquility, or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness. (Tiger Media 2000-2012).

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References Chapman, Cameron (2010). Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color. Tiger Color (2000-2012). Basic color schemes Introduction to Color Theory. Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M. Wegner (2011). Introducing Psychology. Perceiving Color, 4, 102-103.

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