How Colors Affect People

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A television program that I was watching the other day made me think of how how colors are effecting our choices in life, what they really say about our personality, and the overall effects colors have on our personality. In the show they were conducting an experiment where a woman on the street was stopping people and asking them if they could give her money, while she was in a white dress and then she changed into a red dress and did the same.

The result was very interesting. The number of people who gave her money while she was in the red dress was far higher than while she was wearing the white dress. Even though it was the same woman, on the same day, in the same street – the color of the dress affected people’s decision. This clearly shows us the power of the color red over white. I do not mean that one is more beautiful than the other, but for some reason red had a sanction power on people compared to white.

Even though there may be a variety of interpretations and meanings of colors in different cultures, I believe colors speak to us in a universal language and bring out similar emotions across the globe. Let me explain why our surroundings influence our emotions. Have you ever experienced some places that irritate you, or make you nervous, while other places give you peace and serenity? There may be other factors,but the colors of your surroundings play a bigger role to how you feel than you would expect. For instance studies have shown that people looking at the color red color have higher heart rates, which leads to more adrenalin pumped to their blood stream.

In ancient times, several cultures including in China and Egypt, people even believed that color had a healing power and they were using colors as a tool for treatments. In today’s world some companies have realized the power of colors and invested in research to come up with the most appealing logos, and customizing the internal and external message they want to send. They are also taking advantage of this in their advertising tools, in commercials and posters by trying to reach their target audiences’ subconscious.

So what do colors really say to us and which emotions do they give us? Colors can be categorized from warm to cold. Warm colors such as red, orange and yellow may trigger the feeling of romance to anger and cold colors such as blue , purple and green may trigger calmness to sadness.

Below is the global meaning of the different colors:

White: stimulates the feeling of innocence, purity, cleanliness, neutrality.
Black: stimulates authority, power, evil, strength, intelligence, and mourning.
Brown: means comfort, natural, organic, stability and reliability.
Gray: stimulates practical, neutral and timelessness.
Green: natural, cool, health, money, growth, productivity harmony and calmness.
Blue: stimulates serenity, wisdom, loyalty, truth, cold, calmness and focus.
Purple: means royalty, wealth, sophistication, respect , mystery and spiritual.
Red: stimulates romance, love, warmth, hunger, energy, life, anger and intensity.
Orange: energetic, enthusiasm, excitement and change.
Yellow: stimulates happiness, laughter, cheer, optimism, hunger and frustration.
Pink:  romance, gentle, calming and agitation.

Now since we know how each color effects our subconscious, keep that in mind the next time you are redecorating or repainting a part of your house or office – as you may want to choose colors accordingly to the vibe that you want each room to represent.