title: Effects of color on emotions.
abstract: Emotional reactions to color hue, saturation, and brightness (Munsell color system and color chips) were investigated using the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance emotion model. Saturation (S) and brightness (B) evidenced strong and consistent effects on emotions. Regression equations for standardized variables were; Pleasure = .69B + .22S, Arousal = -.31B + .60S, Dominance = -.76B + .32S. Brightness effects were nearly the same for chromatic and achromatic colors. Blue, blue-green, green, red-purple, purple, and purple-blue were the most pleasant hues, whereas yellow and green-yellow were the least pleasant. Green-yellow, blue-green, and green were the most arousing, whereas purple-blue and yellow-red were the least arousing. Green-yellow induced greater dominance than red-purple.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valdez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehrabian
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005059:Euphoria; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors