Historical Explorations of Color in Psychology

Among those interested in the psychological aspects of color, the philosopher Goethe undertook to develop laws of color harmony, ways of characterizing how colors affect people, and subjective visual phenomena in general.  Goethe focused on the sensation of complementary colors that arise from our perceptions rather than the actions of our visual system (Gage, 1993).

Remarkably, Gestalt psychologists did not emphasize the role of color; their focus remained on visual perceptions and the figure/ground distinction in terms of light and dark contrast.  Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach developed his inkblot test based on the projective tendencies in large part derived from Gestalt thought, but the projective tendencies involving color are coded separately from other responses.  In fact, a powerful response to color in his inkblot test is considered symptomatic of impulsiveness and emotional instability (Riley, 1995).

Freud’s treatment of color is limited to his dream interpretations and the appearance of color in the unconscious.  It is interesting that he, uncharacteristically, relates seeing color directly to actual experience rather than having imbued subconscious significance and meaning (Riley, 1995).  In contrast, color was an integral feature of Jung’s work on mandalas, archetypal motifs, and primordial images. He outlines a framework for color symbols and relates chromatic experience to other forms of perception, including cognition and emotion.  Jung discussed the four-color grouping of red, yellow, blue and green appearing in dreams as representing a symbol of completeness or a focal pattern for order.  Jung related color associations to the unconscious (black), consciousness (white or light) and his four primary “functions”: intuition (yellow), thinking (blue), feeling (red), sensation (green) (Jung, 1972).

Psychologist Max Lüscher developed a system in 1969 that assesses behavioral and emotional responses to color as well as insight into personal issues.  The Lüscher test has been extensively used in advertising, particularly in the automotive and fashion industries. Riley (1995) notes that much of the best psychological work on color had been done under the auspices of market-research and advertising, notably the work of Howard Ketchum who was a designer and consultant for Du Pont, Pan Am, and General Electric among others.  Ketchum was the inventor of the first system for transmitting color specifications by cable from Paris designers to New York manufacturers and conducted famous surveys on color preferences that set marketing standards for major corporations.  The role of color arbiter is now played by a group of designers and artists called the Color Association of the United States, who annually predict the upcoming “color climate.”

Expressions of Color

By the late nineteenth century, color had become a central aesthetic preoccupation in the fine arts world with the Impressionists and Fauvists.  By the late 1920s, color had been embraced as a language of expression in its own right; Chevreul created one of the earliest treatises on the grammar of color and the idea of color as a universal language (Gage, 1999).

These concepts were embraced and advanced by the artists Kandinsky, Mondrian and de Stijl, and the Bauhaus movement.  Color systems began to develop, such as Munsell Color System in the United States and the Ostwald System in Germany, both based on new techniques for color discrimination and establishing universal color relationships and uniformity (Gage, 1993).

The color systems influenced later work and spawned many variations on color theories.  Colorists and Bauhaus artist Josef Albers (1971) produced studies on visual color interactions that drew on the psychophysical response of color opposition, Gestalt visual organization, and visual context that have become standard fare for introductory color courses.  Johannes Itten (2003) was another influential colorist who integrated subjective feeling with objective color.  This formed the basis for much of generally acknowledged emotional features of color, such as color temperature (i.e. blue is cold, red is warm).

Meaning of color

The division of colors on the spectrum, as well as the naming and imbued psychological meanings, varies across cultures.  The color white in western cultures, for example, is the symbol of purity while in some eastern cultures it is the symbol of death (Boyatzis & Varghese, 1994; Terwogt & Hoeksma, 1995b).  In western countries, green is a symbol of freshness and growth, however on a business trip to China, we were advised never to give a man a gift of a green hat because it means his wife is unfaithful.  Social anthropologists suggest that color terms evolve; cultures start with basic delimiters for light and dark before adding other color names (Madden et al., 2000).  However, according to some researchers, it appears that the physical perception of color is consistent across cultures even if the naming is not.  In 1969, Berlin and Kay identified eleven basic color terms in nearly one hundred languages, although some of the definitions of what comprises a “basic” category has since come under attack as being arbitrary (Gage, 1999).

Color Effects/Research.

There is a large body of literature on the psychology of color.  In spite of voluminous research, however, the results are difficult to quantify and often inconclusive (Itten, 2003).  Topics include a) color reactions as a function of personality and psychopathology; b) physiological reactions to color; c) color preferences; d) color effects on emotions; e) color effects on behavior; and f) reactions to color concepts (Valdez & Mehrabian, 1994).

Researchers examining the influence of color on performance have typically posited that the relationship between color and performance is interactional and varies with the type of skill being tested.  Jokl (1982, cited in Etnier & Hardy, 1997) hypothesized that colors with long wavelengths (such as red and orange) enhance the performance of gross motor skills, whereas colors with short wavelengths, such as blue or green, enhance fine motor tasks and  cognitive tasks.  Stone (2003) posited that performance is mediated by the task demand level interacting with room color; rather than gross versus fine motor skills.  In low demand tasks, Stone’s subjects performed better in the red (stimulating) room compared to the blue (peaceful) room. It was the opposite for high demand tasks. Based on these results, the authors suggest that stimulation is a positive for low demand tasks but a detriment for high demand tasks.  Knez (1995) reports findings that suggest increased memory skill performance increases in warm colored light as compared to cool colored light.

Research on color preference and meaning date back to the first empirical study conducted by Cohn on the emotional effect of color and light in 1894 have inconsistent results, suggesting that response to color can vary by age, nationality, class, gender, current trends, personality, mood, context and application (Eysenck, 1941; Taft, 1997).  For example, children are reported to like bright colors, men prefer blue, women hate orange, Japanese like pastels, and colors people like for cars are different than the ones they life for sofas (for example, Boyatzis & Varghese, 1994; Etnier & Hardy, 1997; Gorn et al., 1997; Johnson, 1977; Soldat & Sinclair, 2001; Taft, 1997; Terwogt & Hoeksma, 1995a) One of the challenges with existing research, Taft notes, is that there are a number of methodological problems that make comparisons difficult or impossible.

In spite of the empirical uncertainty as to the effects, color undeniably remains a powerful force all around us.  The development of new technologies has blurred the lines among applications, in part, because of the use of color.  With color we can simulate life experiences.   Games, education, entertainment, healthcare, ecommerce, video VoIP—and the list is endless—are all profoundly impacted by the application of color.  I believe that practitioners in every field have an ethical responsibility to know how to use the tools of their trade.  What could be more fundamental to media applications than color?

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