Effect of Colour on Emotions: Study on 15 Participants

The objective of this research is to study the effects of colour on an individual’s mood. The five core emotions that will be examined are love, happiness, calmness, sadness and fear. Fifteen participants (7 males and 8 females) were chosen through a well-designed sampling process. Analysis happen to be gathered and examined to discover the results of various colors had on students’ feelings in various aspects. This research will help comprehend more regarding colours and just how they have an effect on our emotions and for that reason to create much better decisions and raise the utilization of areas when selecting colors with regard to various areas to match the objective for the purpose they may be made.

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Effect Of Colour On Emotions
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Contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Background................................................................................................................................4
Research Question......................................................................................................................5
Purpose of Research and Hypothesis.........................................................................................5
Hypotheses.................................................................................................................................6
Method.......................................................................................................................................6
Materials.................................................................................................................................6
Participants.............................................................................................................................6
Analysis......................................................................................................................................7
Linkage with previous research.................................................................................................8
Limitation...................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10
Appendices...............................................................................................................................12
Appendix A..........................................................................................................................12
Appendix B..........................................................................................................................13
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Abstract
The objective of this research is to study the effects of colour on an individual’s mood. The
five core emotions that will be examined are love, happiness, calmness, sadness and fear.
Fifteen participants (7 males and 8 females) were chosen through a well-designed sampling
process. The participants will be interviewed where they will be asked a series of ten
questions lasting around 6-8 minutes .One of the classrooms at the Kaplan Singapore Campus
will be used as the interview room. Each participant will be guaranteed confidentiality under
the guidelines laid down by Kaplan’s ethical consideration for academic research. Analysis
happen to be gathered and examined to discover the results of various colors had on students’
feelings in various aspects . This analysis would help with comprehending more regarding
colours and just how they have an effect on our emotions and for that reason to create much
better decisions and raise the utilization of areas when selecting colors with regard to various
areas to match the objective for the purpose they may be made.
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Introduction
Colour is a sensory perception and like all sensory inputs it has a profound effect of emotions
and moods. The world is full of colours that surround us and influence our emotions in ways
that we don’t fully understand yet. As stated by Buechner et al. (2015), in structures as well
as style, colors are required to improve feelings from unhappy to joy, afraid to comfortable,
puzzled to clever and so forth. The style of a provided area regarding lighting effects,
structure, audio and coloring can induce psychological reactions and impact the mood and
behavior of the person. Therefore, when we might determine the reactions to coloring
modifications after that it might be achievable to find out exactly how emotional balance
differ inside an closed area. The inside area as well as its atmosphere impact the
understanding and the behavior of the person by impacting on their behavior (Gernot,
Pelowski & Leder, 2018). It really is considered that numerous elements such as coloring as
well as lighting are significant feature of the adjacent surroundings, in open public area such
as classes.
Background
Colours is really a stabilizer of personal feelings. Trendy and warm shades are required to
enhance the state of mind for their beneficial attributes. Based on handling fluency principle,
surrounding constitutes a beneficial mood reaction once the surrounding characteristics and
the conditions of damaged mood are alligned .Generally the stimulant is the effect of a shade
with accordance to the assessed mood (Fernandez-Caballero et al. 2016).
The decision of coloring is a crucial element of design and style of intellectual effectiveness.
Design affluence that encourage mapping that comprise of shade, lighting effects, decorating,
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and many other tips. Temporary and practical capability are improved through vibrant
colours (Plass et al. 2014).
As a consequence the choice of colour is a crucial factor in designing suitable interiors in
public places. Environmental functionality and the profiles of the users are key elements as
their interactions have an effect on the emotional state of people .Therefore it is essential to
examine the effects of colours in natural settings where intricate patterns of nature interact
directly with thoughts and consequently actions of people.
Research Question
The goal of the study is the following research question: Can colour affect emotions?
Purpose of Research and Hypothesis
Colours have the unique capability to make an impression and help form lasting memories .
The impact of a shade with the type of an identified expertise of an interior or outdoor area or
subject. This makes it imperative to understand the influence of colours on the inhabitants of
any given environment .By utilizing the classroom at Kaplan Singapore Campus and the
sample of carefully selected sample of 15 students from the general population the research
aims to study the effects of colours of the psychological behaviour of the students especially
their moods. The research will study the effects of various colours particularly those of the
blue and white coloured walls of the classroom. The perceptions to various colours and the
cognitive properties of the participants will be studied to understand how mood is affected.
According to Elliot & Maier, (2014), a good colour set up must have oneness and range to
produce stability rather than being tedious. The necessity to know how colouring impacts the
moods of people is essential to interior creative designers,psychologists , and architects.
Mainly, the usage of suitable colors features a greater possibility of accelerating the
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efficiency of an person and performance in the area .The research can assist internal and
architectural developers to comprehend to which level intense colorings may impact the
emotional balance of individuals utilizing that provided space and also to restrict the use of
such severe colours (Elliot, 2015). This investigation will set up the extreme conditions and
support stakeholders in determining where to quit among recognized extreme conditions.
Hypotheses
H1: There is not any connection involving coloration and the state of mind.
H2: Colour significantly improves mood.
Method
Materials
The study is scheduled to be held at one of the classrooms at the Kaplan Singapore Campus.
Generally the class is used regarding educational reasons. The wall surfaces of a few of the
room are perfectly decorated with blue and white shades that are regarded as peaceful and
comforting (Bertrams et al. 2015).Apart from the questionnaire in Appendix A, the
researcher will need an audio recording device to maintain a record of his conversations with
the participants. He will also require a pen and a notebook to write down key points that are
valuable to his research. Additionally a stopwatch will be needed to keep track of time .Each
participant will be provided with a consent form to make them understand the premise of this
study and to take their approval.
Participants
The target population (N) is the Kaplan Singapore students. A sample size of fifteen students
(n) representing both genders will be selected by the researcher using a convenience sample
design. The model of people is going to be split up into two categories composed of of every
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sexual category: men and woman. A 50-50 sexual category supply is going to be noticed . As
a result the research can have 8 women and 7 men. A reaction rate of hundred percent is
predicted.
Analysis
Around 20 questionnaires had been allocated arbitrarily to subjects at various times during
the the day. All of these had been effectively gathered and then the analysis regarding the
outcomes will be of 15 respondents was carried out. The studies of the analysis are as
subsequent:
Respondent’s sexual category
Through the graph, it is deduced that this highest participants were woman with a overall
amount of 8 as in contrast with the males who were 7 in range. Graph 1 shows the sexual
category of respondents, the horizontal axis of the chart signifies the gender while the vertical
displays the amount count of the specific gender.
Figure 1: Participation Rate
The
maximum level on graph, with a total percent of 28, showing that most appellants’ preferred
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male female
6.4
6.6
6.8
7
7.2
7.4
7.6
7.8
8
8.2
Participation Rate

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color had been red which ended up being highly preferred with a total count of 5,
accompanied by black with 4, by blue with 3, white with 2 and by no preference 1,
correspondingly.
The quantity of the participants with regard to each accessibility to the responses is given ;
the graphs demonstrating respondents’ understanding on color are shown; and other relevant
inquiries that are replied through the respondents are examined. Evaluation of appropriate
issue as well as immediate statement implies that because of the colors applied, one gets
enthusiastic and the other becomes dull. A tone of red is applied thoroughly within the
strategy to see of the effect. Red grabs our interest preliminary, red also displays amusement
and pleasure. Research discovering red to become more stimulating than any other colors are
examined .Likewise, it was suggested that comfy colors, this sort of as red as well as yellow,
improve excitement levels a lot more than cool colours, like green as well as blue.
Figure 2: Desire for colour
33%
27%
20%
13%
7%
Participants Desire For Colour
red
black
blue
white
no preference
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Linkage with previous research
The effect of colour on mood can be associated with previous researches like the correlation
between mood states & consumer behaviour, cross cultural study of different colours, mood
& memory relatability and other researches in this field. Whenever light hits any coloured
subject, the thing absorbs just the wavelengths which precisely match up its very own atomic
framework and displays the remainder to the viewer. Whenever lighting attacks the
individual eye, the wavelengths do this in different methods, impacting on our awareness.
The hypothalamus may be the section of the brain regulating our bodily hormones as well as
our endocrine process, whenever light strikes the retina it really is transformed into electric
impulses which are then transported towards the hypothalamus with regard to decryption.
The hypothalamus is the body’s neurological clock . It is so since it regulates our body’s
temperatures, the hunger, sexual features, sleep, as well as behavioral habits, and so forth. It
is often demonstrated many times that colour carries a physical impact on people because of
its vitality; an research performed on blind individuals was done previously to recognize
colours led to these impaired subjects determining they donot face any difficulties at all.
Hence based upon the following research findings and analysis, it could be satted that the null
hypothesis stating that colour and mood is not related, is rejected and thereby, the alternate
hyupothesis that colour suignificantly affects moods is accepted.
Limitation
This research report is based on small sample of 15 different individual’s perspective which
cannot be generalized or cannot be applied for large population research samples. This
research can be further applied and tested in the area of marketing & sales for diverse
business verticals which will facilitate them to change their business strategies and foster
their growth, thereby, increase their revenues.
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Conclusion
Colour is a sensory perception and indeed has an influential effect on emotions of
individual’s covering various aspects including architecture, fashion, design, food &
beverages segments. They tend to uplift moods and even influence the cognitive functions &
performance of the brain as well leaving lasting impact on the memory. The research report
on the effect of colour on mood is an intense research report work based upon on a random
sample of 15 different individual’s perspectives. Since this is a limited sample, it cannot be
generalized to the complete population at large. An intense study has to be done in order to
come to a conclusion for a large population group.
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References
Buechner, V. L., Maier, M. A., Lichtenfeld, S., & Elliot, A. J. (2015). Emotion expression
and color: Their joint influence on perceived attractiveness and social
position. Current Psychology, 34(2), 422-433.
Bertrams, A., Baumeister, R. F., Englert, C., & Furley, P. (2015). Ego depletion in color
priming research: self-control strength moderates the detrimental effect of red on
cognitive test performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(3), 311-
322.
Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2014). Color psychology: Effects of perceiving color on
psychological functioning in humans. Annual review of psychology, 65, 95-120.
Elliot, A. J. (2015). Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and
empirical work. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 368.
Fernandez-Caballero, A., Martínez-Rodrigo, A., Pastor, J. M., Castillo, J. C., Lozano-
Monasor, E., López, M. T., ... & Fernández-Sotos, A. (2016). Smart environment
architecture for emotion detection and regulation. Journal of biomedical
informatics, 64, 55-73.
Gernot, G., Pelowski, M., & Leder, H. (2018). Empathy, Einfühlung, and aesthetic
experience: The effect of emotion contagion on appreciation of representational and
abstract art using fEMG and SCR. Cognitive Processing, 19(2), 147-165.
Heidig, S., Müller, J., & Reichelt, M. (2015). Emotional design in multimedia learning:
Differentiation on relevant design features and their effects on emotions and
learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 81-95.
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Plass, J. L., Heidig, S., Hayward, E. O., Homer, B. D., & Um, E. (2014). Emotional design
in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning. Learning
and Instruction, 29, 128-140.
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Appendices
Appendix A
List of questions
1. Would you sense that colour impact your feeling? How?
2. What exactly is your preferred colour? Why?
3. What exactly is your least preferred colour? Why?
4. Did your mood impact your colouring of your garments you choose?
5. What shades cheer you up?
6. What colourings do you dislike?
7. Which colour would you convey?
 Convenience and peace of mind.
 Power and durability.
 Recovery and calmness.
 Depression.
 Fatigue and exhaustion.
8. What sensation do you get when you see your preferred colour?
9. What sense would you get whenever you see your least preferred colour?
10. Really does colour of your bed room wall gives you the sense of being relaxed as well
as cheerful? What the colour is?
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Appendix B
List of questions
Do you feel that colour affect your mood? How?
 8 people answered yes, giving various reasons like it gave the peace, made them
happy etc.
 4 people answered no
 3 people said that it has no effect on their moods
What is your favourite colour? Why?
 Red – 5 participants answered red, saying that it gave them a sense of power and
some also associated the colour with love
 Black – 4 participants answered black, saying that the colour gave them a feeling of
emptiness and infinite possibilities
 Blue – 3 participants answered blue, saying it was a fun colour with lots of variations
and had a sense of appeal to them
 White – 2 participants answered white, saying that it was the purest colour and
symbolised them peace and serenity
 No preferences – 1 participants gave no answer, saying that colour in itself has no
appeal to them.
What is your least favourite colour? Why?
 Brown – 5 participants answered brown, associating the colour with undesirable
things like mud, faeces etc
 Purple – 3 participants answered purple, saying the colour can be too loud
 Red – 4 participants answered red, associating the colour with blood and violence
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 No preferences – 3 participants gave no answer, saying that colour does not matter to
them
Does your mood affect your colour of your clothes you choose?
 Yes -3 participants answered yes
 No – 7 participants answered no
 I don’t know - 5 participants stated that they do not notice
What colours cheer you up?
 Bright colours – 10 participants answered that bright colours like yellow, orange, sky
blue and red cheer them up
 Dark colours – 3 participants answered that dark colours like topaz, dark blue and
black cheer them up
 No preferences – 2 participants answered that colours do not affect their mood
What colours do you dislike?
 Brown, purple, magenta – 5 participants
 Pink, bright red, orange – 7 participants
 Black, blue and brown – 2 participants
 No opinion – 1 participants
Which colour would you convey?
Comfort and serenity
 White – 6 participants
 Light green – 4 participants
 Sky blue -3 participants
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 No answer - 2 participants
Power and strength
 Red – 6 participants
 Royal Blue – 4 participants
 Emerald Green – 3 participants
 No answer - 2 participants
Healing and calmness
 White – 8 participants
 Light blue – 3 participants
 Light green – 2 participants
 No answer - 2 participants
Depression
 Blue – 9 participants
 Black – 5 participants
 No answer – 1 participants
Tiredness and fatigue
 Beige - 5 participants
 Green - 4 participants
 Blue - 3 participants
 No answer - 2 participants
What feeling do you get when you see your favourite colour?
 Power - 4 participants
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 Happiness - 6 participants
 Nostalgia - 4 participants
 No answer - 1 participants
What feeling do you get when you see your least favourite colour?
 Annoyed - 10 participants
 Depressed - 2 participants
 Angry - 2 participants
 No answer - 1 participants
Does the colour of your bedroom wall make you happy? What colour?
 9 participants answered their bedroom walls made them happy. Colours: Beige,
Peach, Light brown
 4 participants answered their bedroom walls do not make them happy. Colours;
Yellow, off white, light green
 2 participants answered that it does not affect them either way
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