Color Affect an Individual's Mood

1COLOR AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL’S MOOD
COLOR AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL’S MOOD
Marie Masabni
Tarleton State University
Capstone Research Paper

2COLOR AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL’S MOOD
Abstract
According to researches, colors surrounding us in our daily lives has a profound impact
on the mood and on the behavior. In interiors, clothing, landscape and natural light, a color can
alter the mood from sad to happy, from intelligence to confusion. It can be used to level out the
emotions to create different moods. The design of the environment by a variety of means like
temperature, layout, lighting, sounds and colors can stimulate perceptual and emotional
responses in clients and affects their behavior. The literature will explore if there is a link that
exists between certain colors allowing the expression of individual moods followed by a survey
conducted by using the Google forms and Facebook. SPSS has been used for the data analysis
part. Moreover, this research paper has helped us to get an insight of the psychological aspect of
colors and how they can be used in various settings to enhance mood.

3COLOR AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL’S MOOD
How does color affect an individual’s mood?
Literature review
In designing the interior of an office room or school or any building, colour is considered
as the easiest material to change the characteristics of the environment. In a word it can be said
that, colour is a subtle stimulus with significant impacts that largely affect human lives. Jalil,
Yunus & Said, (2012) have stated that colour influences human behaviour, health, decision
making and much more.
While observation of colour is personal and subjective, there are certain colours that
possess universal meaning. Colours present in the red portion of the colour spectrum are
considered as warm colours and includes red orange and yellow. This is due to the fact that the
warm colours evoke emotions ranging from the feeling of cordiality and comfort to the feelings
of hostility and anger (Shikder, Mourshed & Price, 2012). The colours present in the blue side of
the spectrum are described as calm colours but can also involve feelings of indifference and
sadness (Shikder, Mourshed & Price, 2012).
For example, the colour black is associated with death and mourning in several cultures
and is often associated with unhappiness, formality, sexuality and sophistication.
The utilisation of the psychology of colour is important in marketing and advertising.
Colour has been constantly used in the attempt to make people hungry, to be associated with
positive and negative tones, encourage trust and feelings of energy, and evoke a sense of
calmness and energy (Shikder, Mourshed, & Price, 2012).

4COLOR AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL’S MOOD
The colour of a classroom can affect the schema of a child, whereas the colour of a
residential care unit or a psychiatric care unit can influence the cognitive status of the residents.
Australian day care centres follow unique Reggio Emilia classrooms, having exclusive classroom
designs and colours. The uniqueness of these classrooms lies in the fact that Emilia Colour of the
e-commerce websites also influence perception of potential buyers (Pelet & Papadopoulou,
2012). Hence study of the psychological aspects of different colours might assist in workplace
environment modification that could motivate employees or might provide a calming effect on
elderly patients or those suffering from mental problems.
In art therapy, colour is often associated with the emotions of a person. Colours can
influence a person’s physical or mental state (Shikder, Mourshed, & Price, 2012). Studies have
shown that people looking at the red colour red resulted in an increased heart rate that led to
additional adrenaline being pumped in to the blood (Shikder, Mourshed, & Price, 2012)..
Kuijsters, Redi, de Ruyter, and Heynderickx, (2015) have stated that the use of different
colours in lighting can improve the temperament of older people by creating mood enhancing
ambiences. These lighting techniques can change the look of the rooms and closed spaces, by
generating an ambience with affective meaning. Elderly people in care centres often face from
negative mood states (Dael et al., 2016). They become anxious as they realise they are in the last
phase of life.
One of the ways to enhance the mood is to use efficient coloured lighting in care centre
rooms. The huge growth of Led light sources and the integration of sensors and electronics has
provided the chance to use lights of any colour and intensity. Colour has been repeatedly shown