Voyager Online: Sci Facts

	Book Search by:

So you're into sci fi? But what about sci fact? Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction...

Each month our very own Voyager Science Queen* will bring you interesting, quirky and downright bizarre tid bits from the world of science. And its all completely, totally, 100% true!

October Sci-Facts
A Rainbow of Emotions

The psychology of colour is a complex topic. Colour preferences and emotional responses change with the variation of an individual’s age, gender and cultural background. Let’s have a quick fossick into the basic facts behind this fascinating phenomena.

Primitive Reactions to Colour

In less complex cultures, the colour wheel is unrecognised. Some languages only have words for black, white* and red, where the word for ‘red’ is actually representing all the other colours. Even where the other colours are recognised, blue and green are often considered the one shade, and there is certainly no concept of pink or orange being separate shades from red.

Studies have shown that children develop different colour preferences as they age, and that some colour preferences are inborn rather than culturally conditioned. Newborn babies have a distinct preference for geometric patterns in black and white. As they age, they start to show positive reactions to other shades, with yellow and red usually achieving the highest and earliest recognition rates. Strange to say, purple or violet are the least popular colours among preschool children, as the colour carries an implication of sickness or death.

Until puberty, there is no differentiation between the genders for colour preferences. After adolescence, men and women vary in their preferences. S.J. Warner conducted a survey of male and female colour preferences, in the middle of the 20th century. In his research, the women preferred pastel colours, pale and subdued mid-tones, warm rather than cool, and deep shades. The men preferred brilliant hue tints, light full colours, cool rather than warm, and greyed shades. The study is considered dated, as the women's choices might have been affected by the fact that women were not yet ‘liberated’; yet no one has done a similar study in recent times.

This is one of the problems with studying the psychology of colours. Colour preferences are affected by cultural conditioning, and emotional responses are difficult to rate subjectively. In our mainly Western-influenced culture, we rate red, orange, yellow and brown as warm colours, and blue, green, grey and purple as cool colours. Pink is seen as effeminate and girly. Black is for funerals, and white is for weddings. But, in Italy, pink is considered too special for mere females to wear. In some Asian cultures, white is for funerals, and red is for weddings. This means that colours have a different symbolic meaning to people of various nationalities.

To simplify matters, this article is going to relate only the scientifically proven, innate responses that human have to colours. Colour symbology, colour ‘personalities’ and Feng Shui are not touched upon. As well, I am using the simplest colour palette, the seven colours of the spectrum, and black and white.

The Emotional Palette

Red
Children prefer red. It is considered physically energizing, and physiologically stimulating, aggressive and exciting. Red objects appear closer than they may actually be. Red is sexually stimulating for Caucasians, as their skin flushes red during intercourse. Infrared lamps are used to encourage the healing of injuries and to treat some bone-tissue degenerative diseases.

Orange/Brown
Orange is supposed to shore up the immune system and to stimulate digestion. This stimulating colour fights depression and cultivates good humour. In Western nations, brown is the colour that denotes a strong flavour, and is associated with meat, coffee and gravies, and therefore is often used in marketing these products.

Yellow
This is the first colour seen by newborns. Bright lemon yellow is the most luminous of all colours and the most fatiguing if viewed for long periods of time. Though a cheerful colour if seen at a glance, couples fight more and babies cry more in lemon-coloured rooms

Green
Green seems to balance certain of our physiological functions, among them our heart, lungs and blood circulation. Certain studies even suggest that green promotes deep, slow breathing. Colour therapists use green to cure a number of nervous ailments.

Blue/Indigo
Blue is the favourite colour of most occidental adults worldwide, while being the least appetizing colour when applied to food. Researchers have found that children tested higher on IQ tests in rooms with blue ceilings. Blue tends to relax the human nervous system. The elderly prefer greens and blues, possibly because of the yellowing their eye lenses Blue light is used to treat jaundice in babies.

Purple/Violet
Purple is the hardest colour for the eye to discriminate. In psychiatry, violet is used to treat patients who suffer from fears and obsessions because of its calming effects. Violet is thought to be antiseptic. In some operating rooms, ultraviolet rays are used to purify the air.

White/Black
Research has shown that most primitive cultures distinguish between white and black. If a third colour is named, it's almost always red. White is often seen as a ‘clean’ colour. Black and white patterns are the most recognisable ‘signal’ to the human perception.

-*-*-*-

As addicts of the purple zone, I am going to add a few comments on the symbolism of purple. Purple (or violet) is grand, idealistic, and sensitive, but may lack self-criticism and maturity. Goethe considered this to be a disturbing colour, balanced uncertainly between the positive red and the negative blue. In most languages, violet is called blue: "roses are red, violets are blue". The history of dyes has been marked by purple, a crimson substance extracted from some species of molluscs and used, in days of yore, to colour the ornate garments worn by royalty.

And, there is the expression ‘purple prose’, used to describe ornate, florid writing.

*Please Note: Black is an absence of colour while white light is created by the entire spectrum being present, but in this article, for convenience, we will be referring to white and black as colours.

*The Voyager Science Queen is also known as Lynne Green

So, who is this woman who attempts to entertain us with Science?

Well, I really am a scientist. I have a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Queensland, in Zoology. And, at the moment, I am working in a Pathology laboratory.

I have always been intensely curious about every aspect of our universe, from the teeny tiny workings of the gene right up to the mind-bending forces that are twisting and knotting inside a blackhole. So, now I am sharing a brain stuffed full of trivia…and hopefully entertaining people at the same time.

As well, I write Fantasy stories and novels. One day, I hope to have a book published, but don't hold your breath. Reading is my other major love, and my favourite authors are Terry Pratchett and Isaac Asimov, though I could list hundreds of others. If I had one wish, I ask for more time to write!

Read previous Sci-Facts:

When is a star, not a star?
The Red Planet
Minerals
Hot Topic - Vitamins
A brief glimpse of New Technologies
Cuddly Australian Animals
Something light-hearted
Living in Interesting Times
New Hope for Our New Year
The Meaning of Life…
As the worm turns
Forensics
A Grab Bag of Facts
Bits and Bobs
Australian Achievements
Getting Your Attention
May Sci-Facts
After the Big Bang
The Big Bang
Ashes to ashes; Dust to dust
Twists in the tale
Robots in the Swim and other things
The Tachyon and other things

Looking for more scientific oddities? Have you checked out Dr Steven Juan's website? He is, quite literally, the wizard of odds!