I feel blue. She is green with envy. They are in a black mood. I was so mad I saw red. I was tickled pink. These are more than expressions. They reveal our emotions and our color preferences are an indicator of how we feel and even our personalities.
I prefer dark blue. For me, the color is solid and mature when compared to colors such as shocking pink and canary yellow. I like things to be stable and thoughtful. I might be dull at times. If I were dull all the time, I might go for brown or beige. Also, dark blue is a respectable color and not too serious like black is.
It has been shown that pink can calm people down. But if the shade is hot pink, it’s the emotional equivalent of stepping on the gas as you step on the brakes. Pink also appeals to girls much of the time. It is a gentle color we associate with baby girls while light blue is associated with baby boys. That preference may be an influence on my color preference.
Red can enrage people almost as if its like gasoline being poured on a fire. Statistics show that red sports cars are pulled over for speeding more often than sports cars of other colors. But with silver associated with some of the fastest cars Mercedes and Audi ever built, I’m surprised not more silver sports cars are pulled over.
Bright orange is a safety color. It allows people to see cars better. The orange of Autumn leaves reminds us of the season. The orange of an orange or tangerine tells us the fruit is ripe and sweet. Yet a dirty orange looks dull and is less appealing.
Greens can range the emotional spectrum from solid confidence associated with dark green, liveliness associated with grass green, wildness associated at times with lime green and olive green since both fruit are associated with adult beverages, and “puke” green which can make people feel sick since it is associated with vomit. Green is usually associated with life and also witrh mold. In England, Lotus associated it with speed; thus the name racing green. And of course it is associated with receiving the go ahead since it is the light drivers wait for to let them move forward.
Ronald Reagan used to have a jar of jelly beans on his desk. If someone picked out a certain color of jelly bean, this meant to the President that the person was too discriminating. But if they reached in for a handful of jelly beans and grabbed a bunch of different colors of jelly beans, those people were not prejudice. He could trust them more.
White is associated with purity. But it is also associated with blandness. But not as much as off-white and beige are. Black is associated with evil. Yet in some Asian cultures, it is preferred to white which is associated with death to them. Red is a good luck color for the Chinese and a powerful color for the Russians. Even in America it is a patriotic color. It can inspire people in many nations.
Over a century ago, musical key signatures were assigned colors. To me, some major keys feel like dark blue, royal purple, crimson, and forest green. Some minor keys feel like white, black, light brown, and beige. Some keys that have sharps feel like bright red, bright blue, shocking pink, and bright yellow. Some keys with flats feel like dark brown, olive green, off-white, and light yellow. Some natural keys feel like grey. This may not be exactly what the musicologist state. But different colors affect people in different ways.
People should always take in consideration how colors will affect them psychologically when they paint their homes. Living in a pink house may be interesting for awhile. But how will the neighbors take it and how will you feel to live in a house that is being mocked? And I will always remember the hot pink kitchen in the first house I lived in over half a century ago and how excited it made me feel. So always consider colors for your mental health’s sake.
