title: Seasonal Variations in Color Preference.
abstract: We investigated how color preferences vary according to season and whether those changes could be explained by the ecological valence theory (EVT). To do so, we assessed the same participants' preferences for the same colors during fall, winter, spring, and summer in the northeastern United States, where there are large seasonal changes in environmental colors. Seasonal differences were most pronounced between fall and the other three seasons. Participants liked fall-associated dark-warm colors-for example, dark-red, dark-orange (brown), dark-yellow (olive), and dark-chartreuse-more during fall than other seasons. The EVT could explain these changes with a modified version of Palmer and Schloss' (2010) weighted affective valence estimate (WAVE) procedure that added an activation term to the WAVE equation. The results indicate that color preferences change according to season, as color-associated objects become more/less activated in the observer. These seasonal changes in color preferences could not be characterized by overall shifts in weights along cone-contrast axes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Science, Brown University.
authors.forename: Karen B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Schloss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wheaton College.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wheaton College.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Science, Brown University.
authors.forename: Isobel A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Heck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Color cognition; Color preference; Seasonal changes; Visual aesthetics; ecological valence theory