Indirectly measuring the relationship between colour and emotional expression

Abstract

Previous research using explicit judgments and rating scales suggested that certain colours may be associated with certain emotional states. The present study sought to quantitatively test the relationship between colour and emotional expression. A computer based measure, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was used to indirectly assess and verify such links. Participants of this study were asked to choose from a selection of eight colour stimuli (blue, brown, green, orange, pink, red, violet and yellow) and classify these colour stimuli into two categories: happy and sad. These stimuli were presented in picture form. Indirect measures such as the IAT are thought to tap into automatic responses, which will make it possible to test for implicit associations between colour and emotional expressions, where explicit communication, bias or pre-conceived ideas are absent. Twenty six participants were recruited for this study aged between 20 and 66, including both females (n = 19) and males (n = 7); left handed (n = 3) and right handed (n = 23). The main hypothesis of this study was that reaction time is faster when stimuli are mapped congruently, followed by a second and third hypothesis that stated the majority of participants choose the same colour for happy, and the majority of participants choose the same colour for sad. Data was analysed using group comparisons. The results showed a significant difference between reaction times, which suggested that an implicit association exists. Furthermore, the same colour was chosen more frequently for both happy and sad, which confirms H2 and H3 of this research study. In conclusion, the results obtained through the IAT, supports the main hypothesis of this study, thus, the null hypothesis was rejected.