The following post is part of a series on how colors affect us. Much of the information contained is thanks to my wonderful readers who took the time to think about how they feel about various colors, submitting their opinions into my questionnaire. My hope is that it will cause you to think about colors in your own life, and inspire you in how you decide which colors you choose to wear each day.

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Series Contents:

Spectrum of Truth: Food for Thought | Is Truth Really Black and White?
Questionnaire Post
Overview Post
Before We Begin:
–Information About Questionnaire
–Categorizing Associations
Color Questionnaire Results (Contents):
Warm Colors
–⇒Red
–⇒Orange
–⇒Yellow
–⇒Pink
Cool Colors
–⇒Green
–⇒Blue
–⇒Purple
Neutral Colors
–⇒Black
–⇒White
-⇒Grey
–⇒Beige
–⇒Brown
References

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*This post may contain affiliate links. If you decide to make any purchases through my affiliate links, i’ll earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Green

Considered to be one of the top most peaceful colors according to this questionnaire, green brings about thoughts of nature, and life itself, and is both relaxing and lively all at once. One participant stated: “green automatically makes me think of sports, and, of course, the land/ vegetation. … It makes me feel sort of powerful, and confident.. especially in the field.”

Confidence turned out to be a theme among a few other respondents, too, with four choosing it as one of their emotion associations and one beautifully saying:
“With every passing day, I become more confident in my authentic self and comfortable in my own skin. I associate the color green with my eyes and how they are one of many things I really like about my physical self.”

In a lack of confidence in this color, one of my sisters said, “You look really good in green while I look like a potato” (I’ll help you find the right shade…green can be difficult!).

Additional Comments:
“It use to be my favorite color”

“Do you like the color green?”: 13 said “Yes”, 0 said “No”, 3 said “Only certain shades”.

“What are your feelings associated with the color Green?”: 13 said “Positive”, 0 said “Negative”, 2 said “Neutral”, 1 said “Mixed”.

Peace ranked highest with 10 results; Security with 8; Trust, Comfort, and Motivation with 7.
0 selected: Sadness, Depression, Fear, Anger, Bitterness, Stress, Sensuality, Passion, Mysteriousness, and None.

Associations:

Direct – Nature (19) (“Grass” x5, “Trees” x3, “Nature” x2, “Leaves” x2, “Hills”, “Land/ Vegetation”, “Foilage”, “Fruit”, “Plants”, “Seaweed”, “Shamrock”), Animals (3) (“Animals”, Frogs”, Turtles”), Money (2), My Eyes (2).
In Between – Disgust (From Inside Out) (1), Sports (1), Spring (1).
Indirect – “One of My Friends” (1), Life (1), Relaxation (1).

Visual representations of associations:

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Blue

Blue is known as the world’s top favorite color (according to mass research of H.J. Eysenck and many others)–And the results of this questionnaire said no different. With 94.1% answering that they like blue (And one person, making the last 5.9%, liking certain shades), no answers of purely negative or neutral feelings associated, and a few excitedly mentioning that it’s their personal favorite, the love for this multifaceted color is clear.

23.5% (four people) directly reported mixed feelings when it comes to blue in the second question, and four more people reported the same indirectly through the other questions. But it appears these mixed feelings are a big part of the admiration. One respondent, who answered that they like blue and experience positive feelings with it, left an additional comment on the last question:
“Blue is probably one of the most diverse of colors when it comes to feelings. For me, it’s primarily relaxing, but can also be a sign [of] happiness, sadness, and even desperation and can bring you to the loneliest of thoughts.”
Another participant echoed the thought similarly, saying: “This is my favorite color because of how many different emotions it can give you”.

Additional comments:
“To me, it’s like the stronger version of orange in terms of relaxation/ comfort. ”
“YAYYAAYAYAY I love this color sm”
“It’s one of my favorites!”

“Do you like the color blue?”: 16 said “Yes”, 0 said “No”, 1 said “Only certain shades”.

“What are your feelings associated with the color blue?”: 13 said “Positive”, 0 said “Negative”, 0 said “Neutral”, 4 said “Mixed”.

Peace ranked highest with 14; Comfort with 13; Happiness with 11; Compassion and Trust with 8; And, notably, Sadness with 6.
0 selected: Fear, Anger, Disgust, Suspicion, and None.

Associations:

Direct – Water (9) (“Water” x3, “Ocean” x6), Sky (7), Blueberries (1),”My Scrubs” (1), Clean logos (1), “My blue bra” (1), Ice (1), Crayons (1), Flowers (1), “Literally my entire apartment” (1).
In Between –
Indirect – “My mom” (1), Modern (1), Relaxation (1), Soothing (1), Swimming (1).

Visual representations of associations:

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Purple

The color that was anciently known for richness and royalty still holds these same associations in our minds today. It may no longer be the sure sign of societal power since it (along with so many other colored dyes) has become so accessible–but it still has a captivating power to it. One participant commented:
“It just speaks power to me; I don’ mean that when I see someone dressed in purple, I think that they’re powerful. Actually, I don’t, at all…but the color itself speaks power to me.”

It’s a color of passion, confidence, and individuality to many. One respondent attributes this to her favorite musical artist growing up:
“Prince.. first, foremost, and always Prince! … A child of the 80s, Prince was, is, and always will be my favorite musical artist. This is about all I can think about when I see or hear mention of the color purple. Growing up Prince felt so relate-able to me and was a ‘hero’ of sorts; a person who taught me that it’s ok to be who I am and not who the world expects me to be.”

Additional Comments:
“[My friend] Katja used to legit obsessed with purple”

“Do you like the color purple?”: 11 said “Yes”, 0 said “No”, 3 said “Only certain shades”.

“What are your feelings associated with the color purple?”: 10 said “Positive”, 0 said “Negative”, 1 said “Neutral”, 3 said “Mixed”.

Passion ranked highest with 9; Sensuality close behind with 8; Excitement and Confidence with 7; Happiness and Playfulness with 6.
0 selected: Depression, Anger, Boredom, Disgust, Insecurity, and Laziness.

Associations:

Direct – Flowers (3) (“Flowers”, “Violets”, “Lavender”), Grapes (1), Veggies (1), Dragons (1), Dresses (1), Favorite Color (1), Lights (1).
In Between – Royalty (5), Ball (1), The Movie (the Color Purple) (1), Prince (musician) (1).
Indirect – Power (3) (“Power”, “Dominance”, “Strength”), A friend (1) (“Katja”), Richness (1).

Visual representations of associations:

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References and Additional Reading:

All quotes from “Participants” or “Respondents” (interchangeable meaning), as well as answers shown in charts, come from the thoughts and opinions submitted by readers to my Color Psychology Questionnaires.

Albee, Sarah: “The Color Purple.” Blog post. Sarah Albee Books. April 05, 2012.

Andrews, Evan: “Why Is Purple Considered the Color of Royalty?” Blog post. History.com. A&E Television Networks. July 15, 2015.

Birren, Faber: “Color Psychology and Color Therapy”.

Eysenck, H.J.: “A Critical and Experimental Study of Colour Preferences”. American Journal of Psychology. July, 1941.