Abstract
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.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1245-1260 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Psychological Science |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Oct 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:For their help with the translation of the International Color-Emotion Survey into their respective languages, we thank Agnieszka Gawda (Polish), Aurika Jonauskienė (Lithuanian), Afrodite Kapsaridi (Greek), Bruno Kemm (Spanish and Portuguese), Richard Klein (French), Riina Martinson (Estonian), Galina Paramei (Russian), Angeliki Theodoridou (Greek), Evelina Thunell (Swedish), Alessandro Tremea (Italian), and Yaffa Yeshurun (Hebrew). For their help in distributing and promoting the survey in their countries, we thank Sanne Brederoo (The Netherlands), Cornelis B. Doorenbos (The Netherlands), Tinatin Gamkrelidze (Georgia), Lise Lesaffre (France), Arzu Memmedova (Azerbaijan), Mariam Okruashvili (Georgia), C. Alejandro Párraga (Spain), Vilde Johanna Solheim Lie (Norway), Halvor Stavland (Norway), Hedda Andrea Struksnæs Sørdal (Norway), and Zumrud Sultanova (Azerbaijan).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Keywords
- affect
- color perception
- cross-cultural
- cultural relativity
- open data
- open materials
- pattern analysis
- universality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology (all)