Comparison between psychological responses to ‘object colour produced by paint colour’ and ‘object colour produced by light source’

Abstract

This study aimed to systematically analyse the differences in emotions evoked by the same colour, depending on whether it is an object or light colour. To this end, an assessment was conducted using mock experimental spaces created with either object or light colours (red, green, blue and yellow) and with different levels of illuminance (10 lx or 100 lx). The participants comprised 30 graduate students (19 men; 20–30 years) majoring in colour and lighting, and the vocabulary selected for emotional assessment included the words ‘comfortable’, ‘stable’, ‘tense’, ‘anxious’, ‘cool’ and ‘warm’. The results demonstrated differences between participants’ emotional reactions to the object colour and light colour environments when the same colour was used. For red, green and blue, the object colour was rated higher than the light colour for positive responses of ‘comfortable’ and ‘stable’. For yellow, however, the response differed only slightly between object colour and light colour. Finally, emotional differences varied significantly depending on illuminance level for object colour but not for light colour.