Review of Literature:
Colors may just seem simple and unimportant, but they affect our daily lives more than
we may know. If someone is feeling angry, it could just be because they’re angry, or it could be
perhaps that they are surrounded by or looking at the color red. That’s right! People’s moods can
change just because they are looking at different colors! There are many theories on how just a
simple color can change one’s whole mood.
According to Johnson (2007), color does affect mood by producing certain chemicals and
stimulating different feelings such as hunger. For example, blue can make one feel calm because
it releases calming chemicals, and red can make one hungry because it is an appetite stimulant.
Yellow can make one feel irritated, and it is a fact that people lose their temper most in yellow
rooms. However, pink is tranquilizing and can make one feel weak. In conclusion, Johnson says
that depending on the color, one’s body can do things (like producing chemicals) that cause a
certain emotional reaction (mad, sad, etc.).
Another idea, by Smith (2007), is that the effect color produces is based on what one’s body
does in response. For example, yellow is mentally stimulating, and activates memory, whereas red
increases confidence. Also, brown can make a person feel orderly and stable, while a dark blue can
make one feel sad. Therefore, Smith says that different colors do in fact change one’s mood and
the consequences can be negative or positive.
A third writer, Wollard, (2000) seems to think that color can affect one’s mood, but the
effect also can depend on one’s culture and what one’s personal reflection may be. For example,
someone from Japan may not associate red with anger, as people from the U.S. tend to do. Also,
a person who likes the color brown may associate brown with happiness. However, Wollard does
think that colors can make everyone feel the same, or close to the same, mood. According to
Wollard, pink reduces aggression, which is why the walls of the jail cells in the Seattle prison are
pink! Also, brown can make one feel comforted. Wollard feels that colors do affect one’s mood,
but there are other factors that can alter what one is supposed to feel.
Eric, John, and Paraag’s (2007) main point about color psychology is that color has both a
physiological and psychological effect. For example, green makes people feel relaxed because it
relaxes their muscles and makes them breathe deeper and more slowly. Furthermore, blue lowers
blood pressure, which makes one feel calm. Eric, John, and Paraag conclude that color affects
one’s mood because of what it does to the body