Colour and emotion

Whilst there are many anecdotal links between particular colours and particular emotions, there is relatively little in the way of systematic research. In this chapter a protocol is proposed for establishing these links empirically which is then tested on the emotional terms “pleasant”, “unpleasant”, “mood-enhancing” and “calming”. It was found that it is possible to establish reliable colour-emotion associations, at least with culturally homogeneous participants. A framework for understanding these associations is proposed.