Enlighten Publications

In this section

Colour and emotion

Simmons, D. (2011) Colour and emotion. In: Biggam, C.P. (ed.) New Directions in Colour Studies. John Benjamins Publishing Company: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 395-413. ISBN 9789027211880

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

Whilst there are many anecdotal links between particular colours and particular emotions, there is relatively little in the way of systematic research. In this chapter a protocol is proposed for establishing these links empirically which is then tested on the emotional terms “pleasant”, “unpleasant”, “mood-enhancing” and “calming”. It was found that it is possible to establish reliable colour-emotion associations, at least with culturally homogeneous participants. A framework for understanding these associations is proposed.

Item Type:	Book Sections
Keywords:	Colour, colour vision, emotion, visual stress, visual aesthetics, seasonal affective disorder
Status:	Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:	Simmons, Dr David
Authors:	Simmons, D.
College/School:	College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
Research Group:	Perception and Cognitive Sciences
Publisher:	John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN:	9789027211880
Related URLs:	University of Glasgow Library Catalogue

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

References

Barrett, Lisa Feldman & James A. Russell. 1999. “The structure of current affect: Controversies and emerging consensus”. Current Directions in Psychological Science 8.10–14. Brook, Caroline. 1999. The Official Barbie™ Annual. London: Grandreams. Clarke, Tom & Alan Costall. 2008. “The emotional connotations of color: A qualitative investigation”. Color Research and Application 33.406–410. Davidoff, Jules B. 1991. Cognition through colour. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Faubert, Jocelyn. 1994. “Seeing depth in color – more than just what meets the eyes”. Vision Research 34.1165–1186. Gleitman, Henry, Alan J. Fridlund & Daniel Reisberg. 1999. Psychology, 5th ed. New York: Norton. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. [1810] 1982. Theory of Colours trans. by Charles Lock Eastlake. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press. Goldstein, E. Bruce. 2002. Sensation and Perception, 6th ed. Pacific Grove, Cal.: Wadsworth. Hankins, Mark W., Stuart N. Pierson & Russell G. Foster. 2008. “Melanopsin: an exciting photopigment”. Trends in Neurosciences 31.27–36. Hoel, Paul G. 1984. Introduction to Mathematical Statistics, 5th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Humphrey, Nicholas. 1976 “The colour currency of nature”. Colour for Architecture ed. by Tom Porter & Byron Mikellides, 95–98. London: Studio-Vista. Humphrey, Nicholas. 2006. Seeing Red: A Study in Consciousness. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Hurlbert, Anya C. & Yazhu Ling. 2007. “Biological components of sex differences in color preference”. Current Biology 17.R623–R625. Ishihara, Shinobu. 1978. Tests for Colour-blindness. Tokyo: Kanehara, Shuppan Co. Ltd. Lang, Peter J., Margaret M. Bradley & B. N. Cuthbert. 2008. International Affective Picture System (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual. Technical Report A-8. Gainsville: University of Florida. Levitan, Robert D. 2007. “The chronobiology and neurobiology of winter seasonal affective disorder”. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 9.315–324. Ling, Yazhu & Anya C. Hurlbert. 2011. “Age-dependence of colour preference in the U.K. population”. This volume, 347–360. Lovell, P. George, David J. Tolhurst, C. Alejandro Parraga, Roland Baddeley, Ute Leonards & Tom Troscianko. 2005. “Stability of the color-opponent signals under changes of illuminant in natural scenes”. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 22.2060–2071. Mehrabian, Albert. 1978. “Measures of individual differences in temperament”. Education and Psychological Measurement 38.1105–1117. Ou, Li-Chen, M. Ronnier Luo, Andreé Woodcock & Angela Wright. 2004. “A study of colour emotion and colour preference. Part 1: Colour emotions for single colours”. Color Research and Application 29.232–240. Palmer, Stephen E. & Karen B. Schloss. 2011. “Ecological valence and human color preference”. This volume, 361–376. Parraga, C. Alejandro, Tom Troscianko & David J. Tolhurst. 2002. “Spatiochromatic properties of natual images and human vision”. Current Biology 12.483–487. Pitchford, Nicola J., Emma E. Davis & Gaia Scerif. 2011. “Look and learn: Links between colour preference and colour cognition”. This volume, 377–388. Prinz, Jesse J. 2004. Gut reactions: A perceptual theory of emotion. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress. Rosch Heider, Eleanor. 1972. “Universals in color naming and memory”. Journal of Experimental Psychology 93.10–20. Russell, James A. & Albert Mehrabian. 1977. “Evidence for a three-factor theory of emotions”. Journal of Research in Personality 11.273–294. Simmons, David R. 2006. “The association of colours with emotions: A systematic approach” [Abstract]. Journal of Vision 6: 6.251–251a. Simmons, David R. & Katy Asher. 2007. “The hedonics of colour” [Abstract]. Journal of Vision 7.463. Terwogt, Meerum M. & Jan B. Hoeksma. 1995. “Colors and emotions – preferences and combinations”. Journal of General Psychology 122.5–17. Tonello, Gino. 2008. “Seasonal affective disorder: Lighting research and environmental psychology”. Lighting Research and Technology 40.103–110. Troscianko, Tom, R. Montagnon, J. Leclerc, E. Melbert & P. L. Chanteau. 1991. “The role of color as a monocular depth cue”. Vision Research 31.1923–1929. Troscianko, Tom R., J. Fennell, Chris Benton & Roland J. Baddeley. 2009. “The perception of sunsets”. Perception 38 (supplement).62. Valdez, Patricia & Albert Mehrabian. 1994. “Effects of color on emotions”. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 123.394–409. Wilkins, Arnold J. 2003. Reading through Colour. Chichester: Wiley. Winn, Barry, Arthur Bradley, Niall C. Strang, Paul V. McGraw & Larry N. Thibos. 1995. “Reversals of the color-depth illusion explained by ocular chromatic aberration”. Vision Research 35.2675–2684. Zentner, M. R. 2001. “Preferences for colours and colour-emotion combinations in early childhood”. Developmental Science 4.389–398.

Deposit and Record Details

ID Code:	79167
Depositing User:	Dr David Simmons
Datestamp:	09 May 2013 14:18
Last Modified:	23 Sep 2021 08:56
Date of first online publication:	2011