A paired comparison experiment is described in which preferences for Munsell colour patches were elicited from 54 subjects. Value, chroma, and hue preferences were examined separately. Individuals differed in their preferences for value and chroma, and also for hue. There were also sex differences in preference. Overall the majority of subjects showed a preference for blue hues and a dislike for yellow hues, thus demonstrating a continuity between animal and human colour aesthetics.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Von AlleschG J, 1924“Die aesthetische Erscheinungsweise der Farben”Psychologische Forschung61–91.
2.
BurnhamR WHanesR MBartlesonC J, 1963Colour: A Guide to Basic Facts and Concepts (New York: John Wiley)
3.
ChandlerA R, 1934Beauty and Human Nature (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts).
4.
ChildD, 1970The Essentials of Factor Analysis (London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston).
5.
CohnJ, 1894“Experimentelle Untersuchungen über die Gefühlsbetonung der Farben”Philosophische Studien10562–603.
6.
CrawfordDWashburnM F, 1911“Fluctuations in the affective value of colour during fixation for one minute”American Journal of Psychology22579–582.
7.
DavidH A, 1963The Method of Paired Comparisons (High Wycombe, Bucks: Charles Griffin).
8.
DorcusR N, 1926“Colour preferences and colour associations”Journal of Genetic Psychology33399–434.
9.
EysenckH J, 1941“A critical and experimental study of colour preferences”American Journal of Psychology54385–394.
10.
FletcherR J, 1978“Recent experiences with the City spot test”Modern Problems in Opthalmology19142–143.
11.
GarthT R, 1931Race Psychology Cited by Eysenck (1941).
12.
GrangerG W, 1952“Objectivity of colour preferences”Nature170778–780.
13.
GrangerG W, 1955“An experimental study of colour preferences”Journal of General Psychology523–20.
14.
GuilfordJ P, 1940“There is system in colour preferences”Journal of the Optical Society of America30455–459.
15.
GuilfordJ PSmithP C, 1959“A system of colour preferences”American Journal of Psychology72487–502.
16.
HelsonHLansfordT, 1970“The role of spectral energy of source and background color in the pleasantness of object colours”Applied Optics91513–1562.
17.
HumphreyN K, 1972“Interest and pleasure: Two determinants of a monkey's visual preferences”Perception1395–416.
18.
HumphreyN K, 1976“The colour currency of nature” in Colour in Architecture Eds PorterTMikellidesB (London: Studio Vista) pp 95–98.
19.
JastrowJ, 1897“Popular esthetics of colour”Popular Science Monthly50361–368.
20.
KendallM GSmithBabington B, 1940“On the method of paired comparisons”Biometrics1143–62.
21.
KarrA ECarterD E, 1970“Colour preferences in the pigeon: Measurement during extinction and during variable-interval reinforcement”Proceedings of the 78th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association pp 771–772.
22.
McManusI C, 1980“The aesthetics of simple figures”British Journal of Psychology71505–524.
23.
MollonJ D, 1980“Post-receptoral processes in colour vision”Nature283623–624.
24.
MoranP A P, 1947“On the method of paired comparisons”Biometrika34363–365.
25.
NewhallS MNickersonDJuddD B, 1943“Final report of the OSA Subcommittee on the spacing of the Munsell Colours”Journal of the Optical Society of America33385–418.
26.
NieN HHullC HJenkinsJ GSteinbrennerKBentD H, 1975Statistical Package for the Social Sciences2nd edition (New York: McGraw-Hill).
27.
OsgoodG EMayW HMironM S, 1975Cross-cultural Universals of Affective Meaning (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press).
28.
SahgalAIversonS D, 1975“Colour preferences in the pigeon: A behavioural and psychopharmacological study”Psychopharmacologia (Berlin)43175–179.
29.
SahgalAPrattS RIversonS D, 1975“The responsiveness of rhesus monkeys to visual stimuli differing in wavelength and angular orientation”Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour24377–381.
30.
St. GeorgeM V, 1938“Colour preferences of college students with reference to chromatic pull, learning and association”American Journal of Psychology51714–716.