Do the colors that surround you influence how you feel? Can the colors on your walls and on your clothes affect your moods? Some researchers believe the answer is a decisive yes, while others aren’t so sure.
Yet many marketers, interior designers, medical professionals and others swear by an informal field of science known as color psychology. Color psychology is defined as “the study of how the colors we perceive impact our thoughts and feelings.”
Marketers use the science of color to persuade us to buy things. When choosing paint, furniture and wall art, interior designers act on the theory that colors can arouse certain feelings in us. Dentists are often advised to use light blue paint on their office walls to help calm apprehensive patients.
We should keep in mind, though, that only by considering cultural preferences are we able to fully understand the science of color. For instance, in the West, white is for brides and black is for funerals. But in ancient Asia, white was sometimes worn for funerals. In Japan yellow represents courage while in the United States, it represents happiness. Additionally, many variables including gender, age, background and more must be considered before making color assumptions when one is studying the effects of color.
After taking color variable into account it’s safe to consider some mainstream theories about specific colors and their meanings. Here are just a few:
Red symbolizes love, energy, passion and danger. Red is also believed to increase one’s hunger, which might be the reason why McDonald’s and Coca-Cola chose red as their major branding color.
Brown, a color from nature, best represents things that are honest, trustworthy and dependable. It seems a perfect fit as the branding color for the package delivery company UPS.
Blue-in addition to representing peace and calm-also means integrity and competence. It’s no surprise that PayPal and American Express both use blue as their branding color.
Green-another color from nature-represents health, growth and freshness and is the perfect branding color for Starbucks.
Pink symbolizes love, romance, innocence and femininity (女性特质). The popular doll company that makes Barbie uses pink as its major branding color.
If color psychology advocates are correct, then our emotions and decisions are truly influenced by the colors around us. With this knowledge, we can effectively harness (驾驭) color power to create positive school, work and home environments.
【小题1】What does the phrase “swear by” in the second paragraph probably mean?| A．deeply investigate | B．somewhat doubt |
| C．deeply believe | D．still wish |
| A．To remind we should take culture into account when learning the science of color. |
| B．To state that cultural preferences are decisive factors in color psychology. |
| C．To show different cultures have different preferences for different colors. |
| D．To prove white and black represent complete different things in different countries. |
| A．color psychology may help us make correct decisions in life |
| B．color psychology is an uncultivated field in modern science |
| C．color psychology has been recognized throughout the world |
| D．color psychology is influencing our emotions and decisions |
| A．The potential effects of color on our lives. |
| B．The positives and negatives of color psychology. |
| C．The foundation and function of color psychology. |
| D．The relationship between color and man Section |
