Feeling Blue or Seeing Red? Similar Patterns of Emotion Associations With Colour Patches and Colour Terms

A comparative analysis of colour-emotion associations in 16-88-year-old adults from 31 countries

As people age, they tend to spend more time indoors, and the colours in their surroundings may significantly impact their mood and overall well-being. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to provide informed guidance on colour choices, irrespective of age group. To work towards informed choices, we investigated whether the associations between colours and emotions observed in younger individuals also apply to older adults. We recruited 7393 participants, aged between 16 and 88 years and coming from 31 countries. Each participant associated 12 colour terms with 20 emotion concepts and rated the intensity of each associated emotion. Different age groups exhibited highly similar patterns of colour-emotion associations (average similarity coefficient of .97), with subtle yet meaningful age-related differences. Adolescents associated the greatest number but the least positively biased emotions with colours. Older participants associated a smaller number but more intense and more positive emotions with all colour terms, displaying a positivity effect. Age also predicted arousal and power biases, varying by colour. Findings suggest parallels in colour-emotion associations between younger and older adults, with subtle but significant age-related variations. Future studies should next assess whether colour-emotion associations reflect what people actually feel when exposed to colour.

Task-irrelevant valence-preferred colors boost visual search for a singleton-shape target

Some studies have suggested that emotion-associated features might influence attentional capture. However, demonstrating valence-dependent distractor interference has proven challenging, possibly due to the neglect of individuals' color-valence preferences in standard, averaged reaction-time (RT) measures. To address this, we investigated valence-driven attentional-capture using an association phase in which emotionally neutral vs. positive-feedback photographs were paired with two alternative target colors, red vs. green. This was followed by a test phase requiring participants to search for a pop-out shape target in the presence or absence of an emotion-associated color. In Experiments 1 and 2, this color could only appear in a distractor, while in Experiment 3, it appeared in the target. Analyzing the standard, averaged RT measures, we found no significant valence association or valence-modulated attentional capture. However, correlational analyses revealed a positive relationship between individual participants' color-valence preference during the association phase and their valence-based effect during the test phase. Moreover, most individuals favored red over green in the association phase, leading to marked color-related asymmetries in the average measures. Crucially, the presence of the valence-preferred color anywhere in the test display facilitated RTs. This effect persisted even when the color appeared in one of the distractors (Experiments 1 and 2), at variance with this distractor capturing attention. These findings suggest that task-irrelevant valence-preferred color signals were registered pre-attentively and boosted performance, likely by raising the general (non-spatial) alertness level. However, these signals were likely kept out of attentional-priority computation to prevent inadvertent attentional capture.

Red biases sex categorization of human bodies

Color is associated with gender information (e.g., red-female). However, little has been known on the effect of color on sex recognition of human bodies. This study aimed to investigate whether the color red could influence the categorization of human bodies by sex, and the effect of contextual information. Visual stimuli were created using body silhouettes varying along the waist-to-hip ratio from female to male shapes. These stimuli were presented in conjunction with red, green, and gray colors, which were used either as body color (Experiment 1) or background color (Experiment 2). Participants were instructed to categorize the sex of the body stimuli as either male or female by pressing labeled keys. The results showed that when red was used as a body color, it induced a bias toward feminine body perception, while when used as a background color, it induced a bias toward masculine body perception. Thus, the color red influenced the sex categorization of human bodies, which being modulated by contextual information. These findings provided novel insights into the effect of contextual color cues in sex recognition of human bodies.

The good, the bad, and the red: implicit color-valence associations across cultures

Cultural differences-as well as similarities-have been found in explicit color-emotion associations between Chinese and Western populations. However, implicit associations in a cross-cultural context remain an understudied topic, despite their sensitivity to more implicit knowledge. Moreover, they can be used to study color systems-that is, emotional associations with one color in the context of an opposed one. Therefore, we tested the influence of two different color oppositions on affective stimulus categorization: red versus green and red versus white, in two experiments. In Experiment 1, stimuli comprised positive and negative words, and participants from the West (Austria/Germany), and the East (Mainland China, Macau) were tested in their native languages. The Western group showed a significantly stronger color-valence interaction effect than the Mainland Chinese (but not the Macanese) group for red-green but not for red-white opposition. To explore color-valence interaction effects independently of word stimulus differences between participant groups, we used affective silhouettes instead of words in Experiment 2. Again, the Western group showed a significantly stronger color-valence interaction than the Chinese group in red-green opposition, while effects in red-white opposition did not differ between cultural groups. Our findings complement those from explicit association research in an unexpected manner, where explicit measures showed similarities between cultures (associations for red and green), our results revealed differences and where explicit measures showed differences (associations with white), our results showed similarities, underlining the value of applying comprehensive measures in cross-cultural research on cross-modal associations.

Is Purple Lost in Translation? The Affective Meaning of Purple, Violet, and Lilac Cognates in 16 Languages and 30 Populations

Colour-emotion association data show a universal consistency in colour-emotion associations, apart from emotion associations with PURPLE. Possibly, its heterogeneity was due to different cognates used as basic colour terms between languages. We analysed emotion associations with PURPLE across 30 populations, 28 countries, and 16 languages (4,008 participants in total). Crucially, these languages used the cognates of purple, lilac, or violet to denote the basic PURPLE category. We found small but systematic affective differences between these cognates. They were ordered as purple > lilac > violet on valence, arousal, and power biases. Statistically, the cognate purple was the most strongly biased towards associations with positive emotions, and lilac was biased more strongly than violet. Purple was more biased towards high power emotions than violet, but cognates did not differ on arousal biases. Additionally, affective biases differed by population, suggesting high variability within each cognate. Thus, cognates partly account for inconsistencies in the meaning of PURPLE, without explaining their origins.

Understanding Color Associations and Their Effects on Expectations of Drugs’ Efficacies

Colors influence our daily perceptions and expectations that manifest in a variety of ways. This research has three main objectives: to demonstrate the relationship between the colors of pills and their expected efficacies, to test this effect on a wide variety of demographics, thereby demonstrating their influence on choices made by participants. Finally, to understand the reasoning behind the choices made by participants, and the color associations exhibited. The results of a series of surveys showed clear similarities and differences across various demographics. The strongest and most consistent color associations were those of white with pain relief and red with stimulant efficacies. The color associations found were red with aggression and power, blue with calmness and serenity, white with calm and purity, yellow with energy, and green with environment and health. The findings of this study can help pharmaceutical companies, and medical practitioners, to better make, market, and prescribe pills, depending on the geographical location, ethnicity, and age group of the patient. This may also strengthen the perceived effects of the pills on patients overall by increasing their compliance rates.

Significant and persistent improvements in time in range and positive emotions in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes using a closed-loop control system after attending a virtual educational camp

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the six-month impact of the advanced automated functions of a closed-loop control (CLC) system (Control-IQ) and a virtual educational camp (vEC) on emotions and time in range (TIR) of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

METHODS

Children and their parents participated in a three-day vEC. Clinical, glucose, and emotion data were evaluated before, just after, and six months after the vEC. Emotions were evaluated using adapted Plutchik's and Geneva Emotion Wheels.

RESULTS

Forty-three children and adolescents (7-16 years) showed significant improvements in positive emotions immediately and six months after the vEC (67% and 65% vs 38%, p < 0.05, respectively), while mixed emotions were reduced (32% and 15% vs 61%, p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). The median percentage TIR increased from 64% (IQR 54-72) to 75% (IQR 70-82) with Control-IQ (p < 0.001) six months after the vEC.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive emotions (joy, serenity, and satisfaction) significantly improved while mixed emotions were significantly worse six months after the initiation of a CLC system (Control-IQ) and a vEC.

Effects of color–emotion association on facial expression judgments

Color and emotion are metaphorically associated in the human mind. This color–emotion association affects perceptual judgment. For example, stimuli representing colors can affect judgment of facial expressions. The present study examined whether colors associated with happiness (e.g., yellow) and sadness (e.g., blue and gray) facilitate judgments of the associated emotions in facial expressions. We also examined whether temporal proximity between color and facial stimuli interacts with any of these effects. Participants were presented with pictures of a happy or sad face against a yellow-, blue-, or gray-colored background and asked to judge whether the face represented happiness or sadness as quickly as possible. The face stimulus was presented simultaneously (Experiment 1) or preceded for one second by the colored background (Experiment 2). The analysis of response time showed that yellow facilitated happiness judgment, while neither blue nor gray facilitated sadness judgment. Moreover, the effect was found only when the face and color stimuli were presented simultaneously. The results imply that the association of sadness with blue and gray is weak and, consequently, does not affect emotional judgment. Our results also suggest that temporal proximity is critical for the effect of the color–emotion association (e.g., yellow–happiness) on emotional judgment.

Does facial redness really affect emotion perception? Evidence for limited generalisability of effects of facial redness on emotion perception in a large sample

We conducted a preregistered study (N = 609) to conceptually replicate and extend prior research regarding the effects of facial redness on emotion perception. In a within-subjects design, participants saw emotion faces (anger, happiness, fear, neutral) of a random female and a random male target with default facial colouration and increased facial redness and were asked to simultaneously rate the intensity of six emotions (happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, disgust, anger) for each emotion face. The emotion intensity was rated higher, when the emotion face and the rated emotion matched than when the emotion face and the rated emotion did not match. However, increased facial redness did not influence the intensity of the rated emotion. The results of this conceptual replication limit the generalisability of previous findings, challenge the assumption that facial redness is used as a cue to infer emotions, and point to the necessity to develop a more nuanced theoretical account of contextual boundaries.

What colour should I wear? How clothing colour affects women's judgement of other women's body attractiveness and body size

Research has indicated that female body perception and associated body-viewing gaze behaviour in women viewers can be influenced by a variety of internal and external factors (e.g., own body satisfaction, clothing style, and viewing angle). Although the clothing colour affects women's visual and aesthetic appearance rated by men or women wearer themselves, its impact on women judging other women's body attractiveness and body size is largely unclear. In this eye-tracking study we presented female body images of Caucasian and African avatars in a continuum of common dress sizes wearing different colours (black, grey, white, red, green and blue), and asked 31 young Caucasian women to rate the perceived body attractiveness and body size. Our analysis revealed that clothing colour black and red attracted the highest body attractiveness and slimmer body size ratings, whereas green and grey induced the lowest body attractiveness and overestimated body size judgements. Such colour-induced modulatory effect on body perception was further influenced by the avatar race (or skin tone; e.g., higher attractiveness ratings for colours white, blue and green in African than in Caucasian avatars), and was associated with the changes of body-viewing gaze allocation at the upper body and waist-hip regions (i.e. colour black and white attracting more viewing at the upper body and waist-hip regions, respectively). Taken together, it seems that the clothing colour and its contrast with skin tone play valuable roles in mediating women's body perception of other women.

English colour terms carry gender and valence biases: A corpus study using word embeddings

In Western societies, the stereotype prevails that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. A third possible gendered colour is red. While liked by women, it represents power, stereotypically a masculine characteristic. Empirical studies confirmed such gendered connotations when testing colour-emotion associations or colour preferences in males and females. Furthermore, empirical studies demonstrated that pink is a positive colour, blue is mainly a positive colour, and red is both a positive and a negative colour. Here, we assessed if the same valence and gender connotations appear in widely available written texts (Wikipedia and newswire articles). Using a word embedding method (GloVe), we extracted gender and valence biases for blue, pink, and red, as well as for the remaining basic colour terms from a large English-language corpus containing six billion words. We found and confirmed that pink was biased towards femininity and positivity, and blue was biased towards positivity. We found no strong gender bias for blue, and no strong gender or valence biases for red. For the remaining colour terms, we only found that green, white, and brown were positively biased. Our finding on pink shows that writers of widely available English texts use this colour term to convey femininity. This gendered communication reinforces the notion that results from research studies find their analogue in real word phenomena. Other findings were either consistent or inconsistent with results from research studies. We argue that widely available written texts have biases on their own, because they have been filtered according to context, time, and what is appropriate to be reported.

What Affects the E-Bicycle Speed Perception in the Era of Eco-Sustainable Mobility: A Driving Simulator Study

The increase in the number of electric bicycles worldwide has resulted in a rise in the number of traffic accidents involving e-bicyclists. Previous studies have been based on analyzing the use, advantages and disadvantages of e-bicycles, whereas only a small number of studies have been focused on analyzing the e-bicycle traffic safety, particularly the factors leading to the occurrence of traffic accidents. One of the factors affecting the occurrence of traffic accidents is the incorrect perception of the e-bicycle speed by other traffic participants. To examine the mentioned problem, the authors of this paper conducted an experimental study to determine what affects the e-bicycle speed perception. The experiment included 175 participants, aged 18 to 50. The research was conducted under laboratory conditions using a driving simulator, at different e-bicycle speeds (10 km/h, 20 km/h and 30 km/h), in the situations in which the e-bicyclist was (not) using a reflective vest. The results show statistically significant differences in the e-bicycle speed perception when the e-bicyclist does not use/uses a reflective vest. Besides, the driving licence categories of traffic participants and their driving experience also have a significant impact on the perception of the e-bicycle speed.

Colour-emotion associations in individuals with red-green colour blindness

Colours and emotions are associated in languages and traditions. Some of us may convey sadness by saying feeling blue or by wearing black clothes at funerals. The first example is a conceptual experience of colour and the second example is an immediate perceptual experience of colour. To investigate whether one or the other type of experience more strongly drives colour-emotion associations, we tested 64 congenitally red-green colour-blind men and 66 non-colour-blind men. All participants associated 12 colours, presented as terms or patches, with 20 emotion concepts, and rated intensities of the associated emotions. We found that colour-blind and non-colour-blind men associated similar emotions with colours, irrespective of whether colours were conveyed via terms (r = .82) or patches (r = .80). The colour-emotion associations and the emotion intensities were not modulated by participants’ severity of colour blindness. Hinting at some additional, although minor, role of actual colour perception, the consistencies in associations for colour terms and patches were higher in non-colour-blind than colour-blind men. Together, these results suggest that colour-emotion associations in adults do not require immediate perceptual colour experiences, as conceptual experiences are sufficient.

Universal Patterns in Color-Emotion Associations Are Further Shaped by Linguistic and Geographic Proximity

Many of us “see red,” “feel blue,” or “turn green with envy.” Are such color-emotion associations fundamental to our shared cognitive architecture, or are they cultural creations learned through our languages and traditions? To answer these questions, we tested emotional associations of colors in 4,598 participants from 30 nations speaking 22 native languages. Participants associated 20 emotion concepts with 12 color terms. Pattern-similarity analyses revealed universal color-emotion associations (average similarity coefficient r = .88). However, local differences were also apparent. A machine-learning algorithm revealed that nation predicted color-emotion associations above and beyond those observed universally. Similarity was greater when nations were linguistically or geographically close. This study highlights robust universal color-emotion associations, further modulated by linguistic and geographic factors. These results pose further theoretical and empirical questions about the affective properties of color and may inform practice in applied domains, such as well-being and design.