As we go through our daily routines and habits, we are surrounded by millions of various shades and hexes of colours, but we rarely ever stop to pay them any attention. However, unbeknownst to many, colours can have a direct affect on our mood, behavior and even memory!
In fact, this phenomenon is called colour psychology, and includes topics such as emotional responses to certain colours, the factors involved within colour preferences and promoting well-being via colours.
It is, however, important to note that research surrounding color psychology is all relatively new, therefore much of the evidence is based on smaller scale studies or anecdotal information, such as a small survey conducted in 2020 that asked 4, 598 individuals to associate provided colours with emotions.
The main takeaways from that survey was that colours such as red, yellow, orange and pink were typically associated with warm and content emotions, such as love and joy. On the other hand, the “cooler colours” such as blue, green and purple were all traced back to some sort of content or tranquility.
Now, this was probably the basis of primary school art lessons for many, but as a society, we haven’t really paid attention to how profound the effects of colours are. For example, the way in which they’re used for communication purposes, like red in advertisements for Valentine’s Day gifts. Or, how colours are directly tied to our pasts, which can be translated through various art forms. And lastly, their prevalence within therapy! Yes, colours are slowly being introduced into mental health practices, and is now known as chromatherapy.
But like everything else within the colour psychological realm, this area of therapy hasn’t been researched thoroughly, so for now, chromotherapy is simply a supporting method of healing, a communication bridge and an expressive art form.
