Perception of Emotions and Colours Among Ukrainians

Abstract

The study presents research results on the associative connection between emotions and colours among Ukrainian-speaking and non-Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians. It aims to confirm or refute the constancy of associations between the ten differential emotions identified by C. Izard and different colours, as well as the specificity of the relationship of these associations for the Ukrainian-speaking audience compared to the non-Ukrainian-speaking one. The survey questionnaire comprised a socio-demographic section, which incorporated a query regarding the language that the respondents learned to speak initially. The methodology was based on the free association method, where the stimulus material consisted of the names of ten specified emotions, and the respondents were expected to provide the colours that came to mind first. The study involved 127 participants aged between 18 and 60, of whom 109 were female and 18 were male. The study showed a constant associative relationship ratio between emotions and colours. In contrast, this ratio's specificity in the Ukrainian sample was not supported compared to the non-Ukrainian sample. This finding highlights the need for further research into the influence of language, culture, and individuality on colour perception in modern conditions. The second result shows that some emotions have more associative colours than others, indicating the existence of emotion colour attributes. It allows for the analysis of the uniqueness of each individual's experience of different emotions.