Consistent Color-Emotion Correspondences Across 128 Years



Source: Andrés Gómez / Unsplash

Source: Andrés Gómez / Unsplash

Colors are thought to carry emotional meaning. Even more, many agree that color impacts us in the way we think and feel. We can find many sources that tell us to paint our bedroom walls in blues and greens because these colors would soothe and relax us. Then, other sources tell us to surround ourselves with vibrant yellows to cheer us up, or to wear red to impress the audience.

Unfortunately, we have little scientific data that support such ideas. For most of the evidence, the methods frequently targeted colors of specific products or drugs, testing how those affect consumer behavior. Doing so makes sense, because emotional meanings of colors likely vary by context. We spontaneously thought of an example for green. This color is certainly pleasant on a hot sunny day when strolling through a lush forest. Yet, this color is undoubtedly disgusting when spotted on the piece of cheesecake in our fridge. And indeed, the Color-in-Context theory (Elliot, 2015) argues that situations determine the meaning of colors. Yet, before studying and explaining the numerous possible situations, we considered it worthwhile establishing a type of gold standard, namely, an understanding of the emotional meanings of colors in general, beyond any particular context (see empirical studies in Jonauskaite et al., 2019, 2020, 2024; Ram et al., 2020).

We tested this question in our review spanning 128 years of research on color-emotion relationships (Jonauskaite & Mohr, 2025). Empirical psychology was properly born at the dawn of the 20th century. And, so, we could find the first relevant article in the 7th volume (issue 1) of the American Journal of Psychology, published in 1895 (Major, 1895). The most recent articles of this review were published in 2022, because, by then, we had closed our data extraction. At this point, we had more than 4,000 published articles that were somehow related to color and emotion.

Now, we started our lengthy selection procedure by looking through the respective study details. We only kept peer-reviewed studies that were published in English, focused on general color-emotion relationships, tested healthy adults, and were performed under controlled experimental conditions. After this selection, we were left with 132 reliable, high-quality studies.

Many Ways to Test Relationships Between Colors and Emotions

Across studies, colors had been presented in various ways. Mostly, researchers showed participants actual colors (80 percent), using carefully controlled color patches on calibrated computer screens, or colored objects. Others presented color words like “red” or “blue,” while yet others combined both approaches. On average, studies used 10 colors when using color terms and 32 shades when using color patches.

To measure emotional relationships, researchers cast an equally wide net. Some studies focused on basic emotional dimensions: asking participants whether they think colors were positive or negative, calm or exciting, powerful or weak. Others asked about specific emotions like joy, anger, or sadness (e.g., Which colors do you associate with joy?). Even others showed emotional facial expressions, bodily expressions, and even measured participants’ physiological responses such as heart rate or palm sweating.

Facing such varied measurements, we grouped results into color categories. For example, all the different shades of blue were considered to represent “blue.” As for emotions, we stayed with what the original authors had used.

Key Findings of Our Systematic Review

Photo by Ramakant Sharda on Unsplash

Source: Photo by Ramakant Sharda on Unsplash

Color Categories

  • Red links to both positive and negative high-intensity emotions. It’s associated with love and passion but also anger and rage. Red consistently signals high energy and power.
  • Yellow and orange both connect to positive, energetic emotions like joy, amusement, and excitement.
  • Blue, green, and blue-green (called turquoise, teal, cyan, etc.) are linked to relaxation, comfort, and contentment. Interestingly, blue also has a melancholic side, being sometimes associated with sadness.
  • Pink is the color of positivity, associated with love, joy, and pleasure.
  • Purple is a color of power and pride, but it is also associated with calm and fear, showing how diverse and varied the meanings of purple can be.
  • Achromatic colors: White is a positive color related to peaceful emotions like hope and relief. Grey connects to low-energy negative emotions like boredom and disappointment, while black links to high-energy negative emotions like fear and anger.

Beyond Color Categories

Color characteristics, such as lightness and saturation, were equally, if not more, important for emotion associations. For example, lighter colors evoked more positive emotions, while darker shades connected with more negative emotions. These results were independent of hue—namely, whether the shades were yellows, greens, or purples. Then, more saturated (more vivid) colors linked to higher energy emotions while less saturated (muted) colors were associated with less exciting, less active, calmer emotions.

Other important findings involved the distinction between warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) and cool colors (blues, greens). Both groups evoked positive emotions, but, then, warm colors linked with high-energy, powerful emotions, and cool colors linked with calm and soothing ones.

One Color—Many Emotions and One Emotion—Many Colors

All these findings mean that color-emotion relationships are many-by-many. That is, the same color can have several emotional matches, while the same emotion can link to several colors. Thus, the reported relationships are not absolute rules but convey possible emotional meanings a color may carry.

So, Do We Feel Colors?

We found a remarkable consistency of color-emotion relationships across different research methods, multiple decades, and diverse cultures. Whether researchers showed participants color patches, used color words, or measured emotions via questionnaires, faces, or physiological responses, similar patterns emerged again and again.

The consistent findings in the literature likely represent a shared understanding of color-emotion relationships that goes beyond geographical and linguistic boundaries (see also our research in 30 countries, published in Jonauskaite et al., 2020). On the affirmative side, this consistency makes color a powerful tool to facilitate emotion communication. Through color, we can reinforce meaning. On the cautionary side, we should not fall prey to the idea that this consistency implies emotional experiences.

Just because people consistently link colors with emotions, it doesn’t mean colors actually make us feel these emotions. Think about it: We might associate blue with calmness or yellow with happiness, but simply looking at a blue or yellow wall won’t change our emotional state. These color-emotion connections exist in our minds as learned associations, not as direct causes and effects. If colors did trigger emotions directly, imagine how overwhelming it would be to walk through a colorful mall—we’d be experiencing a constant whirlwind of different feelings with every color we see. Do you find this question as fascinating as we do? Read our earlier blog post “Red Is Associated With Love, but Do We Actually Feel It?”

This post is based on the scientific article “Do we feel colours? A systematic review of 128 years of psychological research linking colours and emotions” published in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review in January 2025.


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