Color Preference as a Function of Background and Illumination

Abstract

90 students with normal color vision reported color preferences for 10 3-in. X 5-in. Munsell papers with a Munsell value/chroma of 5/6 on white, gray, or black backgrounds with a 5-in. X 7-in. visual field exposed for 2-sec. intervals. Colors of short wave lengths tended to be preferred. Preferences for colors were less extreme when colors were viewed on a black background. Illumination intensity did not reliably affect color preferences. The importance of evaluating the extent of preference differences between colors adjacent in preference orders was discussed. Background brightness and illumination did not clearly resolve differences in preference orders found in earlier studies, and the possible influence of other stimulus variables was discussed.