How Colour Influences Our Mood

How Colour Influences Our Mood

Human psychology is an amazing thing. It is affected by such intangible things like colours and aromas. Each colour has a unique effect on the moods of people. Colours are differentiated by their wavelengths and frequency. Based upon this, they are rated as strong or intense colours; medium colours; and light or soft colours.

Some colours boost energy, while others offer a soothing and comforting experience by the person who is looking at or wearing such colours. There are basically seven colours in a spectrum of light, and each one is different and unique from the other. The colours on the red side of the spectrum are called warm colours; while the colours on the blue side of the spectrum are called cool colours.

Warm colours include red, orange and yellow. They give a sense of warmth and have an emotive feeling attached to it. On the extreme side, it can aggravate feelings of anger, hate, resentment, hostility, danger and bloodshed. Ironically, the red colour stands itself for feelings of love. The cool colours consist of blue, purple and green. These colours have a calming and harmonizing effect on the mood, but these can also transform the mood into sadness, depression and melancholy.

In ancient times, chromotherapy or “color therapy” was used to treat psychological problems, because the people in those times thoroughly believed in the effects of colors on the mood. However, such treatment is termed as temporary treatment because the influence of colors does not last on the mood for a long time.

This is indeed an established fact that colours do have the power to influence human mood. One interesting fact about the influence of colours on the mood is that each culture associates a different meaning to each colour.

Red colour can increase pulse rate, while blue color can slower the pulse rate. Red colour lifts up the mood and spirit instantly; while the blue color calms down the nerves. People who are in depressive moods often try to cheer themselves up by wearing a red dress or red lip color, because it reflects an upbeat mood. Red is a favourite colour for designers because it makes the perfect formal and evening wear. Red roses or even a red coloured wall can alter the look of a room in a house tremendously.

Blue is a cool colour, and this color is mostly used in offices. Blue stands for cool and calm mindedness. It also gives a feeling of expanse and vastness. The green color has similar effects on the mood, and it brings one closer to nature. Green is the colour of youth, and it influences the mood of people in a healthy way.

Black is a mysterious and magical colour; it has contrasting and conflicting influences on the moods of people. It is considered to give a sexy, powerful and evil feeling. On the other hand, white is associated with purity, spirituality and innocence. Moreover, colours have different effects on different people.

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