• Question: Why do colours affect our moods?

    Asked by mrsrichards to Andrew, Daniel, Hayley, Natalia, Peta on 17 Nov 2011.
    • Photo: Daniel Scully

      Daniel Scully answered on 16 Nov 2011:

      I think the effects that colours have on us is a really interesting thing.

      I read that in Judo at the Olympics one person fights in blue and the other fights in red. They looked at what effect the colour had on who the judges thought had won and red was consistently more likely to win.
      They then digitally edited videos of the fights to swap the colours, and showed the videos to the judges and again the person who appeared in red was more likely to be declared the winner!

      I suspect there are several effect that contribute to these thing.

      One is sociological, we are good at associating colours, smells, textures with experiences we’ve had in the past… maybe if your childhood blanket was a rich purple, you will associate purple with comfort and security.

      There’s also an evolutionary effect. Human beings have learnt that a red fire means warmth, so they feel warm in a room with deep red walls.

      Finally, there are biological effects. The human eye can process different colours at different speeds. So red might be more vibrant and exciting than blue.

    • Photo: Andrew Cairns

      Andrew Cairns answered on 17 Nov 2011:

      I have no real idea, but I would guess that it is both a natural and a taught response. Some things evoke certain feelings because of our evolutionary response (like Daniel says) but also things we have experienced in life. For example, why does red and gold mean Christmas?

    • Photo: Hayley Smith

      Hayley Smith answered on 17 Nov 2011:

      I heard the same thing about the judo that Daniel describes, but with boxers as they’re often red/blue too – it’s really interesting!

      I remember reading/hearing somewhere that it’s something to do with the pituitary gland? Does that seem sensible? Signals from the retina get sent there and this is where many important bodily functions are directed from, including hormones and emotions. So I guess if the information is being sent there it’s being associated in some way?

      I think it must also have something to do with nature. I remember watching the “Really Wild Show” when I was younger and one thing I learnt from that was that animals that are dangerous tend to be coloured black and yellow stripey, and it seems to fit, bees, wasps, some snakes etc and most of nature knows that black and yellow stripey is pretty nasty so to stay away… I think red and black also meant something, but I can’t remember. So it almost seems inbuilt in some way?!

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