Inthissection:

HowItWorks
PsychologicalPropertiesOfColours
TheColourAffectsSystem
Research
PersonalityType1/Colours
PersonalityType2/Colours
PersonalityType3/Colours
PersonalityType4/Colours
ColourAffects
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ColourPsychology
HowItWorks
PsychologicalPropertiesOfColours
TheColourAffectsSystem
Research
PersonalityType1/Colours
PersonalityType2/Colours
PersonalityType3/Colours
PersonalityType4/Colours

HowItWorks

Whatexactlyiscolourpsychology?
Itistheeffectsoftheelectromagneticradiationoflightonhumanmoodandbehaviourauniversal,
psychophysicalreaction,whichisnotasheavilyinfluencedbyculture,ageandgenderasisgenerallythought.
Itisimportanttounderstandthatthereisagreatdifferencebetweencolourpsychology
andcoloursymbolism.Historically,whatisoftendescribedascolourpsychologyis
actuallycoloursymbolismtheconsciousassociationsthatweareconditionedto
make.Culturalresponsestocolourderivefromavarietyofcauses:forexample,green
isthesacredcolourthroughoutIslam,beingthecolouroftheProphet'srobeinIreland
itisconsideredlucky,perhapsbecausewhentheworldarounduscontainsplentyof
greenthisindicatesthepresenceofwaterandthereforelittledangeroffaminein
Englanditisconsideredunlucky,possiblybecauseofitsassociationwithdecayand
disease.
Therearemanyexamplesofcoloursymbolism:purpleisassociatedwithroyaltyforthesimplereasonthat,until
relativelyrecentlyinourhistory,itwasanextremelyexpensivedyeandonlyroyaltycouldafforditredisthe
colourofbloodandhasassociationswithwar.
Theseassociationsoftencoincidewithcolourpsychology(redactuallycantriggeraggression)buttheyareby
nomeansthesamething.Moreaboutthepsychologicalpropertiesofthemaincolours.
Howdoescolourpsychologywork?
Colourislight,whichtravelstousinwavesfromthesun,onthesame
electromagneticspectrumasradioandtelevisionwaves,microwaves,x
raysetc.Lightistheonlypartofthespectrumthatwecansee,which
perhapsexplainswhywetakeitlessseriouslythantheinvisiblepowerof
theotherrays.SirIsaacNewtondemonstratedthatlighttravelsinwaves,
whenheshonewhitelightthroughatriangularprismand,whenthedifferent
wavelengthsoflightrefractedatdifferentangles,hewasabletodemonstrate
thatthecoloursoftherainbow(thespectrum)arethecomponentpartsof
light.
Whenlightstrikesanycolouredobject,theobjectwillabsorbonlythe
wavelengthsthatexactlymatchitsownatomicstructureandreflecttherest
whichiswhatwesee.Turnthisaroundanditiseasytounderstandhowthe
colourofanythingisaclearindicationofitsatomicstructureor,insimple
terms,whatitismadeof.Whenlightstrikesthehumaneye,thewavelengths
dosoindifferentways,influencingourperceptions.Intheretina,theyare
convertedintoelectricalimpulsesthatpasstothehypothalamus,thepartof
thebraingoverningourhormonesandourendocrinesystem.
Thehypothalamus(withthepituitary)governs:
Waterregulation
Sleepingandbehaviouralpatterns
Thebalanceoftheautonomicnervoussystem
Sexualandreproductivefunctions
Metabolism
Appetite
Bodytemperature
Thehypothalamushousesthebody'sbiologicalclock

Colourisenergyandthefactthatithasaphysicaleffectonushasbeenprovedtimeandagaininexperiments
mostnotablywhenblindpeoplewereaskedtoidentifycolourswiththeirfingertipsandwereallabletodoso
easily.Theshorterthewavelength,thestrongertheunderlyingphysicaleffect
ColourisNature'sownpowerfulsignallingsystemtheuniversal,nonverballanguage.
Scientifically,itisthefirstthingweregisterwhenweareassessinganything:averysimple
andobviousexampleofthatisourreactiontoaflyinourhome:ifitisblackornavyblue,
wewillprobablyfinditaminorirritation,butifithasyellowstripesourreactionwillbe
differentmostofuswillrecoil.Thesameinstincttellsuswhenfoodisunsafetoeatand
throughouttheanimalkingdomcolouriswidelyusedtosignalsexualavailability.
Onawiderlevel,thecoloursofourenvironmentaffectourbehaviourand
mood.Whenyellowdaffodils,bluebellsandcolourfulcrocusesappear,we
immediatelybegintofeellivelierwhengreyskiesandrainorsnow
surroundusweinstinctivelydrawinandtendtohibernate.
Intoday'ssophisticatedworlditiseasytounderestimatethepowerof
primitiveinstincts,astheyarelargelyunconscious.Todaywemightbe
contemplatingapacketofcornflakesoranewcoldcure,ratherthana
primitivemealoracurativeherb,butexactlythesameinstinctscome
powerfullyintoplay.Thecoloursoftheinteriorenvironmentwhereinwe
liveorworkaffectusinjustthesamewayasthoseinthenaturalworld
alwaysdid.Thecoloursthatpeoplewearstillsendoutclearsignalsthatwe
canallreadaccurately.
Everyonethinksthatresponsetocolour,beingsubjective,mustthereforebe
unpredictable.
Notso.
Responseissubjectivebut,whenthestudyofcolourharmonyiscombined
withthescienceofpsychology,reactionscanbepredictedwithstartling
accuracy.Thereisnosuchthingasauniversallyattractivecolour.Red,for
example,mightbeyourfavouritecolourbutanotherpersonmighthateit.
Youseeitasexciting,friendlyandstimulating,heseesitasaggressiveand
demanding.Bluemightbeperceivedascalmandsoothingorascoldand
unfriendly.
ThekeyfactorthatAngelaWrightrecognisedinstudyingcolourpsychology
wasthat,equally,therearenowrongcoloursItisthecombinationof
coloursthattriggerstheresponseyoucouldhaveagreyskyonasummerday,butourreactiontothatgrey
withthebeautifulcoloursofthesummerlandscapewouldbedifferentfromthecombinationofagreyskywitha
predominantlysnowwhitescene.Wedonotrespondtojustonecolour,buttocoloursincombination.Eventhe
winterlandscapecontainsmanycolours.
Inmanyways,colourandmusicworkthesameway(andbothareunderpinnedbymathematics).Asjazzpianist
TheloniusMonkobserved:"Therearenowrongnotes".
Inpractice,colourpsychologyworksontwolevels:thefirstlevelisthefundamentalpsychologicalpropertiesof
theelevenbasiccolours,whichareuniversal,regardlessofwhichparticularshade,toneortintofityouare
using.Eachofthemhaspotentiallypositiveornegativepsychologicaleffectsandwhichoftheseeffectsis
createddependsonpersonalitytypesandcruciallytherelationshipswithincolourcombinations,the
secondlevelofcolourpsychology.Forfurtherclarificationofthisimportantpoint,readabouttheColourAffects
System.

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