From the sky outside to the pieces of clothing we decide to wear, it seems we cannot avoid color.  Color is present everywhere we look, yet we don’t realize how colors play a subtle but powerful role in our everyday lives. 

When I look at certain colors, I feel certain emotions. For example, when I look at the color red, I feel a sense of urgency and danger. When I look at the color green, I feel refreshed and often think of health or nature. When it comes to the color yellow, I feel happy and positive. Since these colors make me feel these certain emotions, I wondered how exactly do colors affect our emotions.

Recently, while exploring different campaigns for one of my business classes, I came across a billboard ad that used the color yellow. The ad, pictured below, displayed the words “Keeps backseat drivers busy,” a message that cannot be directly linked to the feeling of happiness. Regardless of the message or the pathos the ad tried to convey, the ad made me feel happy because it had the color yellow. 

To explain why I felt happy while looking at this ad, I searched for the connection between colors and emotions. Many studies have explored the connection between color and the influence it has on our emotions. To explain why we associate certain emotions with certain colors, a breakdown is needed to explain how the eye perceives color and how the brain responds and interprets color. Sevinc Kurt, in her article “ The Effects of Color on the Moods of College Students,” presents how according to Angela Wright, “the psychology of color works as follows: When light strikes the eye, each wavelength does so slightly differently. In the retina, these vibrations of light are converted into electrical impulses which pass to the brain—eventually to the hypothalamus, which governs the endocrine glands, which in turn produce and secrete our hormones. In simple terms, each color (wavelength) focuses on a particular part of the body, evoking a specific physiological response, which in turn produces a psychological reaction.” (Kurt and Osueke 2014). 

To further simplify, color is the way our brain interprets different wavelengths of light. Color perception begins in the eye, where light enters and hits the retina. The retina contains two major types of photoreceptor cells: rods and cones. Rods detect light and dark, while cones detect color. These cones respond to different wavelengths of light and send signals to the primary visual cortex of the brain via the optic nerve, where they’re processed into what we experience as color. The emotional connection comes when the limbic structures come into play. The two primary structures responsible for adding emotions to colors are the amygdala and the hypothalamus. The amygdala processes emotional responses, and the hypothalamus regulates hormones and autonomic nervous system functions. Here, the brain is decoding color visually, but also emotionally through the use of these deeper systems.

While emotions can be associated with certain colors due to personal experiences or other sociological factors, some emotions are hardwired. The autonomic nervous system can respond to certain colors naturally. Warm colors can increase heart rate, alertness, and arousal, while cool colors tend to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate.

Sevinc Kurt and Kelechi Kingsley Osueke explored this by analyzing how different colors within a university’s student union complex influenced students’ moods. The researchers employed a survey-based approach, distributing questionnaires to students. These surveys aimed to capture students’ emotional responses to different colored spaces within the complex. The study found that specific colors evoked distinct emotional reactions among students. Below is a table that contains the type of questions asked and how strongly students disagreed or agreed. 

Analyzing question 5, 326 respondents claimed that their excitement level increased as they approached the complex due to the colors used on the complex. A shade of red is used in the approach to the student union complex. Kurt and Osueke present how according to Wright, red naturally draws attention and is linked to feelings of excitement and entertainment. The color red is described to be stimulating and lively, but at the same time, it may activate the “fight or flight” instinct and can be perceived as demanding or aggressive. Supporting this, they also presented findings by Faber Birren, which found that warm colors like red and yellow are more arousing than other colors. 

Colors aren’t just visual, they’re also emotional. Learning how to use the power of color can be advantageous as they can help influence your emotions. So next time you pick out what color shirt you want to put on, or what color you want your nails to be, think about what emotion you want to feel!

References: 

Kurt S, Osueke KK. 2014. The Effects of Color on the Moods of College Students. SAGE Open. 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014525423. 

Nanowerk. 2023 May 23. The surprising science of colors and how they affect your mood. https://www.nanowerk.com/the-surprising-science-of-colors-and-how-they-affect-your-mood.php.