Colors and their Associated Emotions: An experimental study on the Basic Perceptual Color Categories of Arabic
Emotions are often associated with color, but the exact determinants of this association are not yet clear. Objective: The current study aims to explore the associations between emotions and the Arabic basic color categories in the Saudi society, in addition to revealing the gender differences regarding these emotions in relation to colors. Methods: Two hundred and twenty four male and female students from King Saud and Princess Nourah University in Riyadh participated in the current study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 39 years old, with an average age of 20.98 and a standard deviation of 2.6. The Geneva Emotion Wheel was applied with a modification of replacing the color terms of the stimuli with color patches. The wheel includes eleven experimental trials, each includes one of the eleven colors. Each color is surrounded by twenty different types of emotions, the emotions were equally divided into positive and negative. On each trial, the participants’ task was to associate the emotions with the colors according to a five-stage scale. Results: Five basic color categories: white, yellow, green, blue, and pink were associated with a number of emotions, all of which were significantly in the positive direction. Two colors, black and brown, were associated with a number of emotions which were significantly in the negative direction. The colors purple and gray were not associated with any emotion. Although red and orange were associated with several emotions, direction of emotions was insignificant. Conclusion: Findings of the exploratory study of the associations between emotions and the Arabic basic color categories in the Saudi society establishes a base on which those interested in the fields of color perception, designing and marketing can build on.
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…
Emotions are often associated with color, but the exact determinants of this association are not yet clear. Objective: The current study aims to explore the associations between emotions and the…
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…