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The Emotional Connotations
of Color: A Qualitative Investigation
Tom Clarke,*Alan Costall
Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry I Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, United Kingdom
Received 15 October 2006; revised 18 September 2007; accepted 19 November 2007
Abstract: Typically, the research on the connotations of
colors has presented isolated color samples to the partici-
pants, and/or restricted their responses to a limited set of
alternatives (e.g., basic emotions). In the present study,
the participants were asked to imagine their own exam-
ples of the target colors, thereby allowing the participants
to select their own salient examples, including the context.
In addition, a qualitative method, the semi-structured
interview, was employed, giving them freedom to choose
their own terms of description, and also identify issues
which they themselves regarded as relevant. To a large
extent, the results were consistent with previous research
about the emotional significance and arousing effects
of different colors. But this alternative approach also
threw light upon more subtle connotations of colors, the
multiple meanings of a single color, and also the partici-
pants’ reasons for these connotations, ranging from indi-
vidual experiences to cultural conventions and stereo-
types. Ó2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 406 – 410,
2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.
wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20435
Key words: color connotations; emotions; semi-structured
interview
INTRODUCTION
The significance and symbolism of color has been a long-
standing subject of study. The research has indicated
some systematic patterns of meaning (e.g., Hemphill,
1
and
Valdez and Mehrabian
2
). For example, according to
Levy
3
‘cool’ colors are soothing, and ‘warm’ colors stim-
ulate. A good deal of the existing research has, however,
used abstracted, disembodied color chips or color atlases,
and confined the participants to a limited set of responses
(for a critique, see Valdez and Mehrabian
2
). Yet past
research has indicated both the importance of context, and
the fact that the meanings of particular colors can be am-
biguous, and even conflicting. Several studies have inves-
tigated the importance of context, such as the nature of
the object, the immediate surroundings, the effects of lan-
guage, culture and physical environment on the signifi-
cance of colors to people (e.g., Hargrave,
4
Wierzbicka,
5
D’Zmura et al.
6
).
Many of the existing studies have their limitations;
however, in so far as they presuppose which contextual
factors are most important in determining the connota-
tions of colors, and, as is standard in much quantitative
research, they restrict the possible responses of the partic-
ipants. The following exploratory study used a qualitative
methodology to allow people to imagine their own colors
before explaining their meaning for them, and, as a result,
places them in their own salient contexts. To this end, a
semi-structured interview methodology was employed
(Smith
7
), which both sets out a clear agenda for the inter-
view, and yet also gives the participants plenty of room
to add their own details, and also point out important
issues that may not have been raised in the interview
schedule. Participants were told that the purpose of the
interview was to explore any emotional associations with
color they may have. They were made aware that the
interview was informal, and that there were no ‘right’ or
‘wrong’ answers. The participants were shown the list of
interview themes, and their purpose was explained. Partic-
ipants were told that there was no rigid order to the issues
to be explored.
The method of the present study was thus distinctive in
two important respects. Following the criticism of Valdez
and Mehrabian
2
of the standard approaches, the partici-
pants were not presented with actual color samples so
they were free to imagine their own examples and also
their contexts. Secondly, the semi-structured interviews
did not constrain the range of responses available to the
participants. The purpose of this study was to determine
*Correspondence to: Tom Clarke (e-mail: clarke_thomas@hotmail.
co.uk).
V
V
C2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
406 COLOR research and application
the extent to which this new method yielded results con-
sistent with the existing research, and also to investigate
its potential for opening up new insights concerning the
connotations of colors.
METHOD
Participants
Sixteen students from Portsmouth University following
various courses took part in the study. The age range was
from 18 to 21 years. The interviews were all carried out
in the laboratory rooms of the Psychology Department to
limit distractions and allow for a comfortable atmosphere.
The participants were recruited using the University of
Portsmouth’s student participant pool. Gender was not
properly represented, with only six males compared to the
10 females that volunteered for the experiment.
Design/Procedure
The colors covered in the semi-structured interviews
were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black,
white, pink, brown, and grey as identified as the 11 color
terms being present in the English language by Berlin and
Kay
8
. The order of the colors was counterbalanced. The
themes explored in the interviews were as follows:
1. The emotions, images, concepts or events that come
into mind when the participants visualized the color.
2. Possible reasons for these associations.
3. The possibility that the same color could have multiple
meanings.
During the interview, the investigator recorded the par-
ticipants’ comments about each color concerning its
meaning, associations and the influence of contextual fac-
tors, as well as any general attitudes towards that color.
Participants were briefed before the interview so that they
fully understood the purpose of the interview and the
topics that would be covered. Participants were simply
told that the aim of this investigation was to look at the
emotions, meanings, and associations they experience in
relation to specific colors, so that their responses could be
compared to those of other people to see if there is any
consistency between individuals.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION
Red, Orange, and Yellow
Consistent with the claim by Levy
3
that cool colors se-
date and warm colors provoke active feelings; the present
study also found that ‘‘warm’’ colors such as red, orange,
and yellow did evoke the more active emotions (by
‘‘active emotions’’ I refer to Levy’s
3
use of this term
when speaking of emotions or feelings that involve physi-
cal arousal, and by the use of ‘‘passive’’ those that se-
date). When questioned about red, 75% of participants
made comments regarding red’s highly emotive nature
relating to love, anger, and passion:
‘‘Makes me think of emotions like anger and pas-
sion.’’—Alison
‘‘Anger, rage, warmth.’’—Heather
‘‘Deep, high emotion.’’—Natalie
These results are also very similar to those reported by
Wexner
9
who found that the words ‘‘exciting’’ and ‘‘stim-
ulating’’ were often associated with the color red. For or-
ange, 56% of the participants also reported similar active
emotions, although they tended to be more pleasant:
‘‘Homely, warm, happy and energetic.’’—Lisa
However, the ‘‘warmth’’ of red, orange and yellow varied
along a continuum. Red was talked about in reference to
‘‘heat’’ and ‘‘fire’’ by 19% of participants. Yet as the ques-
tioning progressed onto orange then to yellow, words such as
‘‘warmth’’ ‘‘sunshine’’ and ‘‘flames’’ became used by 44%
of participants, suggesting the type of heat developed from
that of an intense heat to more of mild warmth. Perhaps the
decrease in warmth of a color is a reflection of the level of
arousal the color evokes, which may explain the range of
associations, from strong emotions such as ‘‘passion’’ and
‘‘anger’’ with red, to milder emotions such as ‘‘happy’’ with
orange, and ‘‘smiley’’ and ‘‘cheery’’ with yellow.
Green and Blue
The results also corroborated previous research con-
cerning the qualities of green and blue. For example,
Spielberger
10
and Wexner
9
found that green and blue
were associated with low anxiety levels and the qualities
of being comfortable and soothing. About 44% of our
participants made very similar comments about green:
‘‘It’s peaceful, as long as its olive green, it kind of
means nature as well, and I suppose nature equals
peace.’’—Royston
‘‘It’s a peaceful colour as it’s like the countryside,
which is also relaxed and peaceful.’’—Lisa
In addition, 69% of participants reported similar low
arousal comments for blue:
‘‘Sad, it’s a heavy colour when rich’’—Alison
‘‘Sea, sky, it’s a very free colour, calming, its sooth-
ing and relaxing.’’—Nikki
The responses for green and blue were very similar
with terms such as ‘‘neutral’’ often being used. The asso-
ciations of green and blue with ‘‘calm’’ and ‘‘peaceful’’
was also common, yet there was a gradation. While green
was often referred to as ‘‘neutral’’ and ‘‘cool’’ (44%)
when the questioning progressed onto blue such terms as
‘‘cold,’’ ‘‘cold colour’’ and ‘‘water’’ became increasingly
frequent (69%). In fact, one of the participants explicitly
suggested the existence of a symbolic continuum:
Volume 33, Number 5, October 2008 407
‘‘Green – blue turquoise type colours are kind of on a
continuum between the meaning of green and
blue.’’—Natalie
Purple
Interestingly, references to temperature, either warmth
or coldness, abruptly stopped beyond blue. Purple was
never referred to as ‘‘cold’’; however, 50% of participants
did make reference to purples calming and passive nature,
for example:
‘‘Placid feelings, it’s a calming colour’’—Kerrie
‘‘Feminine, I don’t think much of purple’’—Mike
Black and White
The responses obtained for black were consistent with
the research of Adams and Osgood
11
and Wexner
9
who
reported that black is bad, strong, and inactive as well as
powerful and masterful. About 69% of our participants
regarded it as a symbol of evil, malice and death:
‘‘It’s an evil sinister kinda colour.’’—Alison
‘‘Everything drowns in black, it ‘takes’ everything
into it’’—Alison
Interestingly, 68% of the comments made of white
made reference to black, usually as being its opposite:
‘‘Just take everything I said about black and use that,
and reverse some of it.’’—Jo
As one participant put it, ‘‘[White] can mean death, but
in a more peaceful way [than black].’’ Whereas black sig-
nified, ‘‘Death and bad things: evil sinister things’’
(Natalie), white, even when referring to death, was more
positive.
It seems strange that black is so popular in fashion and
marketing when it potentially could carry a whole host of
negative connotations. It’s of the authors’ only personal
opinion that its popularity is down to blacks’ overtones of
power and the supernatural. Its use being to represent
something mysterious, rebellious or an alternative, traits
that by some may seem appealing.
‘‘Death but in a different way from black, the whole
‘a light at the end of a tunnel’ type thing.’’—Claire
Lightness and Hue
Hemphill
1
investigated the affective significance of
bright colors which included white, and found that, for
bright colors, 61% of the responses were positive, poten-
tially demonstrating how the lightness and brilliance of
white is the source of its positive traits. When participants
mentioned the term ‘‘light colours’’ or similar, it is pre-
sumed that due to the examples of pale colors that are
given, that individuals are referring to a colors ‘‘value’’ as
opposed to its ‘‘chroma’’ as depicted in the Munsell color
system. It may well be that white represents the pinnacle
of positive emotions, as opposed to black which seems to
be entirely negative. This especially seems true when the
responses for white are analyzed. About 88% of the par-
ticipants’ answers included comments about white’s pleas-
ant and positive traits:
‘‘Heavenly, excited; it’s a euphoria type, happy’’—
Katherine
‘‘Weddings, innocence, plain, pure, babies, and fluffy
clouds’’—Adam
About 50% of participants related the positive signifi-
cance of a color to its lightness rather than its hue:
‘‘Bright green would be happiness, light colours are
always happy regardless of colour’’—Rachel
‘‘Pale and bright yellow is far happier.’’—Kerrie
Pink
This was also the case for pink where its lightness was
said to ‘‘tone down’’ the aggressive and active feelings
associated with red and make it more feminine (see also
Lee and Lee,
12
Garret and Brooks,
13
Weller and Living-
ston.
14
‘‘If it’s a light red it’s softer, not as strong emotions,
although once it becomes pink it’s more feminine’’—
Natalie
The association of femininity with pink was extremely
strong and very common, 69% explicitly referring to pink
as feminine:
‘‘Pink and red are girly colors.’’—William
‘‘Girly, fluffy, it’s very feminine, it’s a soft colour,
makes me think of a dog’s nose.’’—Heather
‘‘Girly, bubbly, Barbie dolls.’’—Mike
Brown
Responses to brown were typically neutral or negative
(see Hemphill
1
).
About 44% of the participants reported that brown car-
ried very few emotive qualities (in fact, three of the partici-
pants completely skipped the topic of brown as they had
so little to say). Few people related it to any particular
emotion but made comments such as ‘‘Earthy, mud, nature,
I’ve got no real feeling towards brown’’ (Heather), and
‘‘I’ve got nothing to say really, it’s just brown’’ (Alison).
Grey
Grey was also widely regarded as lacking emotion,
31% of the participants making no comment about its
emotive qualities, with 50% referring to its un-emotive
qualities. It was reported to be neutral, weak, and even as
a ‘‘no-man’s land’’ among colors:
‘‘Boring, deliberately un-emotive’’—Robert
‘‘Calming, drab, neutral’’—Mike
408 COLOR research and application
‘‘Grey is quite a weak color, it’s almost like black’s
understudy!’’—Rachel
‘‘I guess grey is more depressing, it’s kinda like the
‘no mans land’ of the color world.’’—Alison
Nuances of Meaning
So far, our results have been consistent with previous
research. However, the use of a qualitative methodology
also yielded more nuanced accounts of the significance of
colors. For example, 69% of the participants reported that
both orange and yellow were ‘‘happy’’ colors, yet never-
theless attributed different qualities to them:
‘‘Orange is more a relaxed type of happy, yellow is a
more bouncy happy color.’’—Lisa
‘‘[Orange] can be more a happy color because of the
tranquillity, it’s a different type of happy from yel-
low, and it’s more an ‘inner happy’ yellow is more a
social happy’’—Natalie
The shade also influenced the quality of ‘‘happy’’:
‘‘Light orange is a lot more soothing, it is happiness
but more ‘content’ happiness’ as opposed to smiley
happy’’—Rachel
It was surprising to discover how many facets of
‘‘happy’’ both orange and yellow could express: relaxation,
energy, contentment or social expression. Such subtleties
highlight the limitations of questionnaire-based studies that
restrict responses to supposedly ‘‘basic’’ emotions.
Individual Experience and Culture
Despite the consistency of the responses of our partici-
pants about the meanings of colors we are not claiming
that these are innate or universal. Many of the reported
experiences of a particular color were based upon individ-
ual experiences. In some instances, the associations made
reference to celebrities and the popular media, including
comics from when the participants were young:
‘‘Uri Geller said that orange is a lucky color.’’—
Heather
‘‘Red and white make me think of the cover of Hitch-
cock movies, kinda scary.’’—Heather
‘‘Probably from when I was younger from when I
read comics, you know . . . the whole classic super-
villain type of thing.’’—Alison
Many of the participants commented that a color’s
emotive aspects were ‘‘traditional,’’ ‘‘cultural,’’ or ‘‘ster-
eotypical,’’ as in the case of the association of colors with
gender:
‘‘The blue versus girl thing going on, blue for boys
and pink for girls.’’—Royston
Specific cultural events were also identified, as when
many of the participants associated love and romance
with St Valentine’s Day decorations and marketing:
‘‘Red for love because of Valentines Day marketing,
all the red hearts and red roses etc.’’—John
Similarly, the associations with black and death were
attributed to wearing black to funerals; ‘‘Obvious associa-
tions with death cause of funerals and stuff’’ (John).
White had common reference to being tranquil, innocent
etc. . . . often explained as being due to Christian ceremo-
nies and religious depictions:
‘‘Probably from the way angels are shown in church
things, glass stained windows for example as well as
weddings and christenings’’ (Natalie).
St Patrick’s Day was referred to by several participants
to explain their associations of shamrocks, luck, and
growth with the color green:
‘‘It makes me think of Ireland and lucky things,
shamrocks and so on, although it is St Patrick’s Day
today so that’s probably why I say that.’’—Claire
CONCLUSION
The purpose of the present study was exploratory, to
determine the extent to which the use of semi-structured
interviews and imagined colors (rather than actual color
samples) would yield results consistent with those
obtained by the standard techniques, and also whether this
approach could provide new insights into the connotations
of colors.
To a large extent, the connotations reported in the pres-
ent study were consistent with previous research. In addi-
tion, this study raised new issues concerning color as
emotionally mutli-faceted, individual differences and ex-
perience, and the specific influences of culture upon emo-
tional reactions.
The participant sample for this study was extremely
narrow, using only 18–21 year olds, all of whom where
university students thus attaining similar levels of educa-
tion, all of the same race (Caucasian) and all residing in
the United Kingdom. This may have resulted in the find-
ings being specific to this particular combination of dem-
ographics. It would be of interest to explore the influ-
ence of variables such as education levels and location
of residence to see if further unexplored topics are
raised.
An essential feature of the present study was that the
participants were not required to respond to actual color
samples. This procedure was adopted in order to allow
the participants to imagine the colors and place them in
their own contexts.
Future studies using this methodology might also ask
the participants to identify the specific colors they had
imagined using a standardized color atlas. It is possible,
Volume 33, Number 5, October 2008 409
however, that untrained participants might not find this an
easy task to match imagined colors to samples in a stand-
ard color atlas (see Costall
15
; Saunders and Brakel
16
), and
so it would be important to ask them how confident they
are in their matching.
In our view, the methodology adopted in the present
study constitutes a useful complement to the standard
approaches. It certainly has yielded a wealth of material,
much of which could not be included within a single arti-
cle, for example, about color preferences and the effects
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