Existing research on these proposals tends to be sparse and
spotty, occasionally supporting some hypotheses but not others.
Although the popular and even scientific literatures commonly
state as fact that long-wavelength colors are arousing and shortwavelength
colors are calming, the actual data simply are not
supportive. Frank and Gilovich’s (1988) proposal is supported
by some data, but that proffered by Soldat et al. (1997) is not.
Furthermore, the extant research on color and psychological
functioning in general is plagued by several weaknesses. First,
perhaps due to the applied nature of the work, many studies have
neglected to follow basic experimental procedures such as experimenter
blindness to hypothesis and condition. Second, many
of the manipulations in these studies have been uncontrolled
(e.g., presenting color on an office wall for 4 days) or have altered
participants’ typical perceptual experience (e.g., presenting
color via overhead lights). Third, and most important, almost no
extant research has examined the effect of hue while controlling
for lightness (similar to brightness) and chroma (similar to saturation),
despite the fact that these other color attributes can
themselves influence psychological functioning.