Color psychology is the study of the effect colors have on people's moods, behavior, and feelings. Color psychology is a new field of psychology, the science of which is not widely accepted by the mainstream. Its use is mainly in interior decoration and marketing. Individual colors invoke negative or positive feelings that are used to promote products or create a desired atmosphere within a home or business.
It is important to note that although some ancient civilizations believed that color could influence people, the first modern scientific investigation of color psychology took place in the West. Color does not exist in a vacuum and different colors have different meanings to different cultures. For example, the color green is associated with nature and wealth, while in Muslim countries, green is connected with Islam. When practicing color psychology, the cultural context must be considered.
Black is the color of power and authority, and is often associated with mystery, silence, and intelligence. He is also often associated with evil and death. Regardless of what connotation is used, black is expected to inspire strong emotions. White is the color of purity, innocence and cleanliness. If too much white is used, it can promote feelings of isolation. Advertisers and decorators use white sparingly to inspire peaceful feelings in people.
Red is responsible for increasing a person's heart rate and increasing adrenaline production in the body because it is such an extreme color. Red is the color of love, fire, energy, passion, anger. Red is used to draw attention to something because the eye will naturally see red first. Orange is the color associated with all things happy, fun, and wacky. The color is used to inspire confidence, warmth, and happiness and does not carry negative connotations.
Similar to orange, yellow inspires feelings of happiness because the color is associated with sunshine and optimism. Serotonin levels increase in the brain after a person has seen yellow. However, it has been shown that too much yellow can be overwhelming and certain shades of yellow can trigger feelings of cowardice. In color psychology, green has multiple meanings that are positive and negative. On the positive side, green is the color of wealth, money, growth, nature, peace, and can have a calming effect on people. Negative associations of green include envy and illness.
The blue color awakens thoughts about the sky and the ocean, which are calm and peaceful. Traders and decorators use a fair amount of blue because of its calming properties and also because of the darker shades of blue, which show a sense of loyalty. Purples have a reputation for stimulating creativity, imagination, spirituality, and compassion. Shades of purple are also used to counteract emotional shock and disturbance and are symbols of royalty and sophistication.