What is Color Psychology?The psychology of color is based on the mental and emotional effects colors have on sighted people in all facets of life. There are some very subjective pieces to color psychology as well as some more accepted and proven elements. Keep in mind, that there will also be variations in interpretation, meaning, and perception between different cultures.Applying Color Psychology to Everday LifeDid you know your surroundings may be influencing your emotions and state of mind? Do you ever notice that certain places especially irritate you? Or that certain places are especially relaxing and calming? Well, theres a good chance that the colors in those spaces are playing a part.In art therapy, color is often associated with a persons emotions. Color may also influence a persons mental or physical state. For example, studies have shown that some people looking at the color red resulted in an increased heart rate, which then led to additional adrenaline being pumped into the blood stream. You can learn more about howcolor therapyworks andhow light and color might affectus.There are also commonly noted psychological effects of color as it relates to two main categories: warm and cool. Warm colors such as red, yellow and orange can spark a variety of emotions ranging from comfort and warmth to hostility and anger. Cool colors such as green, blue and purple often spark feelings of calmness as well as sadness.The concepts of color psychology can also be applied in everyday life. For example, maybe youre planning on re-painting your walls or redecorating a house or room with a new color scheme. Well, you might want to consider some of these suggestions about colors and how they might affect your emotions and mood:Psychological Effects of Cool ColorsNeed to be creative? Want help getting those brain synapses firing? Try utilizing the color purple. Purple utilizes both red and blue to provide a nice balance between stimulation and serenity that is supposed to encourage creativity. Light purple is said to result in a peaceful surrounding, thus relieving tension. These could be great colors for a home or business office.Are you looking for a peaceful and calming environment? You might consider using green and/or blue. These cool colors are typically considered restful. There is actually a bit of scientific logic applied to this because the eye focuses the color green directly on the retina, it is said to be less strainful on your eye muscles.The color blue is suggested for high-traffic rooms or rooms that you or other people will spend significant amounts of time. Another cool color, blue is typically a calming and serene color, said to decrease respiration and lower blood pressure. The bedroom is a great place to use these colors as they should help you relax.Psychological Effects of Warm ColorsWant to create an environment of stimulation or whet peoples appetite? You might consider utilizing the colors yellow or orange. These colors are often associated with food and can cause your tummy to growl a little. Have you ever wondered why so many restaurants use these colors? Now you know why even after people watched the movie SuperSize Me, they said they were hungry.You do want to be careful about using bright colors like orange and especially yellow. They reflect more light and excessively stimulate a persons eyes which can lead to irritation. You also probably dont want to paint your dining room or kitchen these colors if youre a calorie-counter.Pyschology of Color for Marketing & AdvertisingMarketing and advertising are well-known for utilizing color psychology. The fact that some companies have heavily invested in this type of research and many others have followed through in its use shows they have at enough belief in the concepts of color psychology to implement them in their advertising.Color is consistently used in an attempt to make people hungry, associate a positive or negative tone, encourage trust, feelings of calmness or energy, and countless other ways.Most marketing and advertising executives will likely agree that there are benefits to understanding and utilizing the psychological effects of colors. Now lets take a look at some of the more common traits of color psychology, by some common colors.Common Psychological Effects of ColorsThe following are some common psychological effects of colors in the Western Hemisphere. You can also review the following pages for a morecomprehensive list of color meanings and symbolism, including somechartsweve created that you can download or embed on your site.Keep in mind that certain shades or tones may result in very different meanings. Also, the context around the color, and even surrounding colors, can have an effect. Think of this as more of a beginning guide to color psychology.Color Psychology: The Color White purity innocence cleanliness sense of space neutrality mourning (in some cultures/societies)Color Psychology: The Color Black authority power strength evil intelligence thinning / slimming death or mourningColor Psychology: The Color Gray neutral timeless practicalColor Psychology: The Color Red love romance gentle warmth comfort energy excitement intensity life bloodColor Psychology: The Color Orange happy energetic excitement enthusiasm warmth wealth prosperity sophistication change stimulationColor Psychology: The Color Yellow happiness laughter cheery warmth optimism hunger intensity frustration anger attention-gettingColor Psychology: The Color Green natural cool growth money health envy tranquility harmony calmness fertilityColor Psychology: The Color Blue calmness serenity cold uncaring wisdom loyalty truth focused un-appetizingColor Psychology: The Color Purple royalty wealth sophistication wisdom exotic spiritual prosperity respect mysteryColor Psychology: The Color Brown reliability stability friendship sadness warmth comfort security natural organic mourning (in some cultures/societies)Color Psychology: The Color Pink romance love gentle calming agitationUnderstanding the Meaningof Colors in Color PsychologyThe meaning of colors can vary depending oncultureand circumstances.Each color has many aspects to it but you can easily learn the language of color by understanding a few simple concepts which I will teach you here.

Non-verbal CommunicationColor is a form of non verbal communication. It is not a static energy and its meaning can change from one day to the next with any individual - it all depends on what energy they are expressing at that point in time.For example, a person may choose to wearredon a particular day and this may indicate that this is theirfavorite (personality) color,orthey are ready to take action,orthey may be passionate about what they are going to be doing that day,oragain it may mean that they are feeling angry that day, on either a conscious or subconscious level. All aretraits of the color red.Psychological Properties Of ColoursThere are four psychological primary colours - red, blue, yellow and green. They relate respectively to the body, the mind, the emotions and the essential balance between these three. The psychological properties of the eleven basic colours are as follows (Learn howyou can harness the positive effects of the colours, byjoining us onone of ourcourses):

RED.PhysicalPositive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, excitement.Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.Being the longest wavelength, red is a powerful colour. Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs our attention first. Hence its effectiveness in traffic lights the world over. Its effect is physical; it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is. It relates to the masculine principle and can activate the "fight or flight" instinct. Red is strong, and very basic. Pure red is the simplest colour, with no subtlety. It is stimulating and lively, very friendly. At the same time, it can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.

BLUE.Intellectual.Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.Blue is the colour of the mind and is essentially soothing; it affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have to red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication. Blue objects do not appear to be as close to us as red ones. Time and again in research, blue is the world's favourite colour. However, it can be perceived as cold, unemotional and unfriendly.

YELLOW.EmotionalPositive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity.Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.The yellow wavelength is relatively long and essentially stimulating. In this case the stimulus is emotional, therefore yellow is the strongest colour, psychologically. The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem; it is the colour of confidence and optimism. Too much of it, or the wrong tone in relation to the other tones in a colour scheme, can cause self-esteem to plummet, giving rise to fear and anxiety. Our "yellow streak" can surface.

GREEN.BalancePositive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace.Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the centre of the spectrum, it is the colour of balance - a more important concept than many people realise. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water, and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level. Negatively, it can indicate stagnation and, incorrectly used, will be perceived as being too bland.

VIOLET.SpiritualPositive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality.Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into the realms of spiritual values. It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality. Being the last visible wavelength before the ultra-violet ray, it has associations with time and space and the cosmos. Excessive use of purple can bring about too much introspection and the wrong tone of it communicates something cheap and nasty, faster than any other colour.

ORANGE.Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun.Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.Since it is a combination of red and yellow, orange is stimulating and reaction to it is a combination of the physical and the emotional. It focuses our minds on issues of physical comfort - food, warmth, shelter etc. - and sensuality. It is a 'fun' colour. Negatively, it might focus on the exact opposite - deprivation. This is particularly likely when warm orange is used with black. Equally, too much orange suggests frivolity and a lack of serious intellectual values.

PINK.Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species.Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.Being a tint of red, pink also affects us physically, but it soothes, rather than stimulates. (Interestingly, red is the only colour that has an entirely separate name for its tints. Tints of blue, green, yellow, etc. are simply called light blue, light greenetc.) Pink is a powerful colour, psychologically. It represents the feminine principle, and survival of the species; it is nurturing and physically soothing. Too much pink is physically draining and can be somewhat emasculating.

GREY.Positive: Psychological neutrality.Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.Pure grey is the only colour that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. A virtual absence of colour is depressing and when the world turns grey we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation. Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colours used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure.

BLACK.Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance.Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.Black is all colours, totally absorbed. The psychological implications of that are considerable. It creates protective barriers, as it absorbs all the energy coming towards you, and it enshrouds the personality. Black is essentially an absence of light, since no wavelengths are reflected and it can, therefore be menacing; many people are afraid of the dark. Positively, it communicates absolute clarity, with no fine nuances. It communicates sophistication and uncompromising excellence and it works particularly well with white. Black creates a perception of weight and seriousness.It is a myth that black clothes are slimming:Which of these boxes do you think is bigger/heavier?The truth behind the myth is that black is the most recessive colour a matter of not drawing attention to yourself, rather than actually making you look slimmer.

WHITE.Positive: Hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanness, simplicity, sophistication, efficiency.Negative: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness, elitism.Just as black is total absorption, so white is total reflection. In effect, it reflects the full force of the spectrum into our eyes. Thus it also creates barriers, but differently from black, and it is often a strain to look at. It communicates, "Touch me not!" White is purity and, like black, uncompromising; it is clean, hygienic, and sterile. The concept of sterility can also be negative. Visually, white gives a heightened perception of space. The negative effect of white on warm colours is to make them look and feel garish.

BROWN.Positive: Seriousness, warmth, Nature, earthiness, reliability, support.Negative: Lack of humour, heaviness, lack of sophistication.Brown usually consists of red and yellow, with a large percentage of black. Consequently, it has much of the same seriousness as black, but is warmer and softer. It has elements of the red and yellow properties. Brown has associations with the earth and the natural world. It is a solid, reliable colour and most people find it quietly supportive - more positively than the ever-popular black, which is suppressive, rather than supportive.