Brainy Dose Presents:
Color Psychology – How Colors Influence
Your Choices and Feelings
Although we don’t often think about it,
colors have a significant impact on people.
It may not be the biggest surprise, but the
color of food can affect how it tastes, the
color of a room can affect how you feel, the
color of your clothes can affect how attractive
members of the opposite gender find you - and
so on.
Color psychology is the study of how color
affects different individuals and their actions.
But before we dive any further, there’s
one really important factor to consider, and
that is culture.
The culture in which an individual is raised
in can influence how they react to color - suggesting
that reactions to colors can be somewhat learned.
A particular color may be a sign of good luck
in one culture, but a sign of bad luck in
another.
In a case like this, the color is going to
affect the mood of each person in different
ways.
Colors play an important role in our lives,
and they are an interesting piece to a puzzle
of different things that influence our moods
in everyday situations.
With that in mind, here are a few interesting
ways in which color can affect you.
Number One - Colors Can Be Stimulating Or
Calming
When it comes to colors, their effects can
vary based on whether they are considered
warm or cool.
These terms are often used in art classes,
but they offer unique insight into how color
can affect a person.
Of course, these statements can vary between
different colors, but for the most part, there
are some things in common.
Warm colors are brighter - like yellow, orange,
or red.
These colors can encourage stimulation - but
are sufficient in small or limited amounts.
Seeing too much of a warm color can become
irritating or annoying.
If you ever find yourself feeling tired, exhausted,
or as if you’re missing a sort of spark
in life, a reasonable insertion of warm colors
may be the key to subconsciously brighten
up your mood.
When it comes to cool colors, they tend to
be more popular when someone is looking for
a peaceful and calming effect in their everyday
life.
Shades of blue and green are considered to
be most restful, calming, or relaxing.
The color blue represents the sky and sea
- and these are the elements that naturally
make us calm.
This makes it ideal for places where you may
want to meditate, rest, or rid yourself from
the stressful events you may have encountered
throughout your day.
Blue is a very powerful color that helps encourage
relaxation - making it a very good choice
for bedrooms.
The color green has similar properties - as
it symbolizes nature and serenity.
There’s even some science behind green’s
calming effect - research has been able to
show that there is less effort needed to see
the color green - thus, the muscles in the
eyes don’t have to work as hard.
Purple on the other hand, is a cool color
that is most widely used to encourage creative
energy and charge.
It’s a mixture of red and blue, which gives
it sparks of relaxation and peace - but also
encouragement and potential stimulation.
Number Two - Color Can Mean Different Things
It’s literally IMPOSSIBLE to narrow one
color down to a solid meaning - and the reason
for this is mainly cultural.
Most colors have multiple symbolic or cultural
meanings, even if you choose to ignore the
fact that certain colors will influence certain
emotions or memories.
Take the color black as an example.
When people think about the color black, they
often think of mystery, death, evil, or emptiness.
But the color black can also be interpreted
to represent elegance or formality - such
as a nice tuxedo or a sleek dress.
None of these things are wrong, in fact, they
are just some of the different things that
the color itself can symbolize.
Take red as another example.
Some people think of the color red as representing
power, aggression, strength, or danger.
But other individuals may look at the color
red and immediately think of love, lust, passion
and desire.
It would be easy to argue that the two different
meanings are on opposite sides of the symbolic
spectrum.
However, in many Western cultures, the color
red represents all of these things.
This makes interpreting how color affects
mood somewhat challenging, because what people
see in the same color can be drastically different
things.
Number Three - Colors Can Determine Buying
Choices
Color Psychology is used widely by various
marketing agencies, grocery stores, designers,
etc. - and it’s definitely working for them.
For instance, research has shown that products
or packaging with red labels will grab your
attention faster.
Red is an inviting color to look at - and
it works best with impulsive shoppers.
The color orange is mostly associated with
fairness or affordability.
You may find that stores offering good value
will use orange to reflect their fair prices.
Green is most often used to attract individuals
who are more eco-friendly.
While white is a color that implies purity
- which is why most skin care companies will
package their top skin care brands in white.
Purple portrays royalty or luxury, and it
is also used often in the beauty industry
- especially when it comes to anti-aging products.
A purple box persuades people into paying
a higher price - by making them think that
the product has special properties.
Black is another color that’s used often
- due to its portrayal of quality or sophistication.
This color is most often used with high-end
products, but can make cheaper items seem
more valuable as well.
Number Four - Colors Can Make You More Confident
And Attractive
Black and red have been found to be the staple
colors of beauty and fashion across the world.
They have also been voted as the colors which
inspire the most confidence.
Men and women both prefer wearing black to
interviews or gatherings of importance - because
black gives them a boost of confidence.
When it comes to first dates specifically,
women would rather wear something red - as
it makes them feel sexier.
While men will typically choose to wear something
black or blue.
Interestingly, not only do men like wearing
black or blue to impress women, women actually
prefer those two colors the most on men as
well.
Number Five - Color Can Make You Eat Less
Or More
Aside from affecting your mood, color can
also affect your appetite.
In fact, the color of your kitchen walls or
dining wear can affect how much you eat!
Research has shown that individuals who eat
off of red plates are found to eat less food.
White plates on the other hand, seem bigger
than they really are - therefore, they encourage
you to eat more.
The colors yellow and orange are also thought
to influence appetite by increasing your hunger.
So if you’re looking to lose a few extra
pounds, consider changing up the scenery in
your kitchen.
Number Six - Colors Can Match With Scent
It is possible for certain colors to match
scents - but only in a limited or personal
way.
This is strange to think about as they play
on various senses, since we can’t see scent
or smell color.
However, there are many colors and scents
that blend well together.
One great example of how this works is the
color green.
Maybe you love the scent of pine.
If you want to enhance your experience with
that scent, you could do ‘essential oil’
aromatherapy, in a room painted green.
Of course, the way these combinations enhance
mood will vary from person to person, but
it’s certainly worth a try.
Number Seven - Colors Can Encourage Feelings
Of Happiness
Certain colors tend to naturally encourage
happiness more often than not.
These are not strict rules when it comes to
the effects of color though, so think of them
more like guidelines.
With that said, when it comes to colors that
can naturally encourage happiness, blue is
actually at the top of the list.
There is no other color that seems to get
such universal love across gender and cultural
lines.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that blue
is a potentially happy color!
Green has been found to be the second favorite
color among men - and the third among women.
Yellow is another color that encourages happiness
- hence the easy association with yellow is
the classic smiley face.
However, this color is best used in small
amounts, as large amounts of yellow can be
too bright.
The most peculiar choice of color for representing
happy feelings is purple.
Purple is actually the second most favorite
color among women - and is found to be a strong
competitor when encouraging happiness.
When it comes to men however, purple is the
second most hated color.
Therefore, there seems to be a gender-biased
reaction to certain colors in many cases.
Now, going with a favorite color isn’t necessarily
a bad idea.
But, keep in mind that many colors can be
stimulating in nature - and just because someone
has a favorite color, it doesn’t mean that
the color has the ability to calm them or
encourage positive feelings.
For instance, many people love the color black,
but do not find it to be inspiring or relaxing
in any way.
Number Eight - Colors Can Incite Unhappiness
Just as there are colors that can encourage
calmness or happiness in a person, there are
colors that do the exact opposite.
While having a favorite color does not necessarily
mean that color will always play a role in
helping you feel better, the opposite may
actually be true when it comes to colors you
don’t like and their effect on your mood.
If you dislike a certain color, chances are
that it will do very little to make you happy
- in fact, it can easily make you unhappy.
Nevertheless, when it comes to hated colors,
there are two that seem to stick out the most:
Brown is the least popular color among men
- and the second least favorite among women.
Interestingly, brown happens to represent
laziness, filth, or ugliness.
It may seem bland and outdated.
It’s no surprise that brown doesn’t seem
to register with either gender as a favorite!
While the color orange represents extravagance
and uniqueness, it is the second most hated
color.
It’s the least popular color among women,
and is tied with purple as the second least
favorite among men.
Although there may be individuals from each
gender who prefer one over the other, brown
and orange are very clearly the least popular
colors of the color spectrum.
All in all, colors really do “color” our
lives - whether by impacting what we’re
subconsciously drawn to, how we express ourselves
individually, or how they affect our moods.
Since everybody is different, not everyone
will react to colors the same way, because
colors influence each of us individually on
different levels.
In addition, there are various general ‘social
or cultural’ influences on how color affects
us.
Nevertheless, you can use this video as a
starting point to help you determine how to
use colors to your advantage in everyday situations.
What do you think?
What’s your favorite color and why?
Let us know in the comments below!
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