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Children's emotional associations with colors

C J Boyatzis1, R Varghese

  • 1Department of Child Development, California State University, Fullerton 92634-9480.

The Journal of Genetic Psychology
|March 1, 1994
PubMed

Insights

Children associate bright colors with positive emotions and dark colors with negative emotions. These color-emotion associations develop with age, with girls preferring bright colors and boys showing more positive associations with dark colors.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Color Psychology
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Understanding children's emotional development is crucial.
  • Color perception and emotional responses are linked in early development.
  • Investigating early color-emotion associations provides insights into cognitive and emotional growth.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the emotional associations children have with different colors.
  • To explore age-related and gender-related differences in these associations.
  • To identify specific color-emotion links in young children.

Main Methods:

  • A study involving 60 children (30 girls, 30 boys) aged 5 and 6.5 years.
  • Children were asked about their favorite color and their emotional response to nine presented colors.
  • Emotional responses were recorded and analyzed for positive/negative valence and specific associations.

Main Results:

  • 69% of children's emotional responses to colors were positive (e.g., happiness, excitement).
  • Children showed positive associations with bright colors (pink, blue, red) and negative with dark colors (brown, black, gray).
  • Emotional responses to bright colors became more positive with age; girls preferred bright colors, while boys were more open to dark colors.

Conclusions:

  • Children form distinct emotional associations with colors early in development.
  • Age and gender significantly influence children's color-emotion preferences.
  • These findings suggest early development of color-emotion concepts influenced by factors like gender and personal experiences.

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