Exploring the Correlation between Emotional Color Perception and Myers-Briggs Personality Types: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The influence of a color’s emotional connotation is a ubiquitous presence, found woven through our known world and shaping our perspectives and interactions. A common debate is that which calls into question the varying ways in which humans emotionally perceive different colors. This study seeks to ascertain whether an individual's personality traits and behavioral patterns, as characterized by the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Test, play a characterizing role in this thought process. To decipher an individual’s specific personality traits, 200 participants are subject to a Meyers-Briggs Personality Type Test. The Myers-Briggs Personality Test, developed by Isabel Myers and her mother Katherine Briggs is a self-report inventory designed to identify an individual’s personality type, strengths, and preferences (Cherry, 2022). The questionnaire is comprised of eight different characteristics that are ultimately conjoined to create one unique personality description. Once an individual’s personality type was deciphered, they were subject to a test in which they are to choose the positive, negative, or neutral emotional connotation of each of the 6 colors in the rainbow in a scenic image. The correlations between their MBTI personality type and emotional perceptions of color were then cross-analyzed to understand the existent relations. The results of this study depict that the initial hypothesis has been validated, demonstrating a significant correlation between emotional color perception and personality types as categorized by the Myers-Briggs personality model. Each pairing of the Myers-Briggs model exemplified a strong association to a specific color connotation.