A comparative analysis of colour-emotion associations in 16-88-year-old adults from 31 countries

Bibliographic Data

ID5269366
AuthorsDomicele Jonauskaite (0000-0002-7513-9766, Institute of Psychology University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland, corresponding author), Déborah Epicoco (0000-0001-8683-3000, Institute of Psychology University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland), Abdulrahman S Al‐rasheed (Department of Psychology King Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia), Abdulrahman S Al-rasheed (0000-0003-0721-6683, King Saud University), John Jamir Benzon Aruta (0000-0003-4155-1063, De La Salle University), John Jamir Benzon R Aruta (Department of Psychology De La Salle University Manila Philippines), Victoria Bogushevskaya (0000-0001-8147-3800, Department of Humanities University of Salento Lecce Italy), Sanne G Brederoo (University Center for Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands), Sanne Brederoo (0000-0001-9608-0954, University Medical Center Groningen), Violeta Corona (0000-0003-3410-7693, School of Economics and Business Administration Universidad Panamericana Mexico City Mexico), Sergejs Fomin, Sergejs Fomins (0000-0003-4519-7647, Department of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Optometry University of Latvia Riga Latvia), Alena Gizdic (0000-0002-0901-7226, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Barcelona Spain), Yulia A Griber (0000-0002-2603-5928, Department of Sociology and Philosophy Smolensk State University Smolensk Russia), J Havelka (0000-0002-7486-2135, University of Leeds), Marco Hirnstein (0000-0002-6291-0929, Department of Biological and Medical Psychology University of Bergen Bergen Norway), George John (0000-0001-6145-1591, Department of Biotechnology Government of India (formerly) New Delhi India), Daniela S Jopp (0000-0002-8896-9275, Institute of Psychology and LIVES Center of Competence University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland), Bodil Karlsson (Division Built Environment RISE Research Institutes of Sweden Gothenburg Sweden), Bodil S A Karlsson (0000-0001-8622-8169, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden), Nikos Konstantinou (0000-0003-4531-3636, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Health Sciences Cyprus University of Technology Limassol Cyprus), Éric Laurent (0000-0002-7112-6765, Laboratoire de recherches Intégratives en Neurosciences et psychologie Cognitive (LINC) Université de Franche‐Comté Besançon France), Lynn Marquardt (0000-0003-4247-0070, Section for Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology Haukeland University Hospital Bergen Norway), Philip C Mefoh (0000-0002-7529-3843, Department of Psychology, Faculty of the Social Sciences University of Nigeria Nsukka Nigeria), Daniel Oberfeld (0000-0002-6710-3309, Institute of Psychology Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany), Marietta Papadatou-Pastou (0000-0002-2834-4003, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Marietta Papadatou‐pastou (Department of Primary Education National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens Greece), Corinna M Perchtold‐stefan (Department of Psychology University of Graz Graz Austria), Corinna Perchtold‐stefan (0000-0002-8334-0574, University of Graz), Giulia F M Spagnulo (Institute of Psychology University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland), Giulia Spagnulo (0009-0000-7200-7867, University of Lausanne), Aygun Sultanova (National Mental Health Centre Baku Azerbaijan), Takumi Tanaka (0000-0002-3625-2096, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology and Faculty of Letters The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan), Tanaka Takumi (The University of Tokyo), Ma Criselda Tengco‐pacquing (Department of Psychology, College of Science University of Santo Tomas Manila Philippines), Ma Criselda M Tengco-Pacquing (University of Santo Tomas), Mari Uusküla (0000-0001-6219-9228, School of Humanities Tallinn University Tallinn Estonia), Grażyna Wąsowicz (0000-0003-4769-8963, Department of Economic Psychology Kozminski University Warsaw Poland), Christine Mohr (0000-0002-3720-7115, Institute of Psychology University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland)
Year2024
Volume115
Issue2
Pages275-305
Publication date2024-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bjop.12687
PMID38041610
OpenAlexW4389274330
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited109

As people age, they tend to spend more time indoors, and the colours in their surroundings may significantly impact their mood and overall well-being. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to provide informed guidance on colour choices, irrespective of age group. To work towards informed choices, we investigated whether the associations between colours and emotions observed in younger individuals also apply to older adults. We recruited 7393 participants, aged between 16 and 88 years and coming from 31 countries. Each participant associated 12 colour terms with 20 emotion concepts and rated the intensity of each associated emotion. Different age groups exhibited highly similar patterns of colour-emotion associations (average similarity coefficient of .97), with subtle yet meaningful age-related differences. Adolescents associated the greatest number but the least positively biased emotions with colours. Older participants associated a smaller number but more intense and more positive emotions with all colour terms, displaying a positivity effect. Age also predicted arousal and power biases, varying by colour. Findings suggest parallels in colour-emotion associations between younger and older adults, with subtle but significant age-related variations. Future studies should next assess whether colour-emotion associations reflect what people actually feel when exposed to colour

Age groups · Arousal · Contrast (vision) · Developmental psychology · Mood · Parallels · Similarity (geometry) · Categorization, perception, and language · Color perception and design · Demography · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology