Conditioning the Connotative Meanings of Color Names to Human Figures

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that color names have distinctive evaluative meanings and it has been hypothesized that the designation of racial groups by color names may serve to condition the meanings of the color names to the racial groups, thus contributing to the development and maintenance of racial attitudes. The results of two studies are reported. In Study I 99 Caucasian Ss' evaluative ratings of color names were shown to be highly consistent with the findings of earlier studies. Study II was designed to provide a direct test of the “color coding” hypothesis. Data are reported which indicate that the distinctive evaluative connotations of race-related color names systematically modified 96 Caucasian Ss' evaluative ratings of human figures with which the color names had been paired, so that, e.g., figures associated with “white” were rated significantly more positively than were the same figures when they were associated with “black.”