Psychology of colour...

Lately I've been speaking to a few people about the finer things in life and asking them what they find beautiful.

It was interesting to see that a lot of the things that people considered beautiful were full of colour.

It got me thinking as to whether people find colourful things beautiful because of the effect the colour has on their mood, their emotional state.

Generally bright, vibrant colours tend to makes us happy.

Dark colours such as brown and black can make us feel low. 

But have you looked more deeply into the psychological effects certain colours are supposed to have on us?

Let's take a look at a few...with each colour being able to be broken down into
positive and negative qualities.

RED

Positive: Strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', masculine, fast!
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

Red is known as a strong and powerful colour. Although not technically the most visible of colours, it has the effect of attracting our attention - perhaps why it is used as the universal colour for stop!
Interesting we also associate red with speed, therefore thinking that red cars always go faster!

Red is stimulating, lively and friendly but at the same time it can be seen as angry!

BLUE Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm. Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness. Blue is known as "the colour of the mind". Perhaps because it resembles the ocean it is thought to be calming and serene. Many research studies reveal that blue is the world's favourite colour. Although calming it can also be thought of as a cold colour. Baby boys traditionally wear blue however blue is considered to be the least "gender specific" colour having equal appeal to both men and women.
YELLOW Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity. Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide. Yellow is considered to be the strongest colour, psychologically. It is considered to be stimulating and for this reason some classrooms are now painted yellow to stimulate the students! Yellow is the most fatiguing colour to the eye due to the high levels of light that are reflected. When using yellow as a background on paper or a computer monitor it can lead to eye strain. The right shade of yellow can lift our spirits and our self-esteem however too much yellow can cause self-esteem to decreasing increasing levels of fear and anxiety.
GREEN Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace. Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation. Green, related to nature, is considered tranquil and refreshing. Perhaps due to the Irish it is also considered lucky. Being in the centre of the colour spectrum, it is the colour of balance. Green is thought to relieve stress and studies have shown when used in a work environment workers suffer less stomach aches! Green is also often used for it's calming effects when decorating. With this in mind is it interesting to think of television guests waiting in the "green room" to relax
VIOLET Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality. Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority. Purple is considered to take awareness to a higher level of thought and therefore is related to imagination and spirituality. Violet however appears in the visible light spectrum, or rainbow, with purple simply being a mix of blue and red. Violet is thought to provoke harmony of the mind and emotions. It is also thought to encourage creativity,  unique and individual.  It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality. Think rich, violet velvet!
ORANGE Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun. Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity. Being a combination of red and yellow, orange is considered to be an energetic colour provoking feelings of excitement, warmth and enthusiasm. It encourages our minds to focus on issues of physical comfort - food and warmth for example as well as sensuality. From a negative perspective, orange can focus on deprivation. This is particularly likely when warm orange is used with black. Interestingly there tends to be strong positive or negative association with the colour orange with true orange resulting in a "love it" or "hate it" response than any other colour.
PINK Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species. Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness. Pink is essentially a shade of red and therefore represents love and romance.  It represents the feminine principle, is soothing and nurturing. Studies have shown that too much pink can be physically draining and can be somewhat emasculating. When used in prisons, inmates often become even more agitated once they become accustomed to the soothing effects of the colour.
GREY Positive: Psychological neutrality. Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy. Pure grey is the only colour that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. The colour grey is usually associated with depression. People rarely name grey as their favourite colour - perhaps due to the colour so often being associated with depression. It is generally not considered a "happy" colour. When the sky turns grey our mood tends to turn grey resulting in a desire to hibernate. How does a grey sky make you feel compared to a vibrant blue sky? Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colours used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure.
BLACK Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance. Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness. Black is all colours, totally absorbed. Black is essentially an absence of light with no wavelengths being reflected. Black can be thought of as dark, mysterious and scary. It is also associated with death, hence people traditionally wearing black to funerals. Black is also considered to be slimming resulting in the colour being a popular choice in clothing.

What's you favourite colour?

Do you think colours can have a huge impact on the way you feel?

Do you consider the effects of colour when choosing colours for your jewellery?

Psychology of colour...something to think about!

♥