Color preference as a clue to personality

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THE relationships existing between color preference and personality are many indeed, and they are quite fascinating to study. As many psychiatrists and psychologists have noted in the sense of vision, responses to form seem to arouse intellectual processes, while reactions to color are more impulsive and emotional. Small children, for example, are color “dominant” m&e than form “dominant.” In classical experiments devised by Gestalt psychologists, the ambiguous task of matching an assortment of red, yellow, and blue colors, on squares, circles, and triangles, will be attempted on a basis of color, rather than forms, by small children. Adults will be hesitant and will point to the discrepancy. David Katz (1950) writes, “Color, rather than shape, is more closely related to emotion.” This primitive quality of color has been referred to by numerous investigators. Well over a hundred competent studies have been made of color preferences. in general, warm colors, such as red, yellow, and orange seem to hold most attention in the beginning years of life. With maturity, however, the ranking is blue, red, green, and order that seems to remain regardless of race or nationality. Among the mentally ill, green is likely to be preferred over red, cool hues being pleasing to patients with hysterical reactions, and warm hues to depressed ones. In interpreting the art expression of young children from three to five years of age, R. H. Altschuler and L. B. W. Hattwick (1947) found reason to conclude that a delight in color showed emotional tendencies, while the frequent use of blue or black indicated self-control and the repression of emotion. As might be expected, red had the highest affective value and revealed uninhibited expression. Yellow seemed to go with infantile traits and dependence on grown-ups. Green showed fewer balanced, emotional impulses, a simple and uncomplicated nature. In a broad way, the spectrum may be divided into colors of long wave length, (red, orange) and colors of short wave length, (green, blue) with yellow occupying a middle position. Researchers have called attention to the fact that human beings tend to fall into two distinct groups: those preferring clear, distinct hues. usually warm in tone, and those who favor cooler hues and tones of less saturation. “The warm color dominant subjects are characterized by an intimate relation to the visually perceptible world. They are receptive and open to outside influences. They seem to submerge themselves rather readily in their social environment. Their emotional life is characterized by warm feelings, suggestibility, and strong affects. All mental functions are rapid and highly integrated with each other. In the subject-object relationship, the emphasis is on the object. The cold color dominant subjects...have a detached ‘split-off attitude to the outside world. They find it difficult to adapt themselves to new circumstances and to express themselves freely. Emotionally they are cold and reserved. In the subject-object relationship, the emphasis is on the subject. In short, the warm color dominant subject is Jaensch’s outwardly integrated type, the cold color dominant his inwardly integrated type.” (Rickers-Ovsiankina, 1943). Emotionally the red end of the spectrum is exciting, the blue end subduing. Physically and physiologically, the same sort of complementation exists. Red colors tend to increase bodily tension, to stimulate the autonomic nervous system, while green and blue colors release tension, and have a lesser physiological effect. It is to be granted, of course, that direct connections exist between the brain and the body, and that reactions take place independent of thought or deliberation. A striking observation to be made is that the division of the spectrum into warm and cool colors