Colors And Personality: What Is The Relationship?

Although many people believe that colors have no relation to feelings, opinions or behaviors, in reality there are just as many who firmly believe in the relationship between colors and personality. And, indeed, how many of you would choose a color you don’t like to dress up or redecorate the living room?

Just to give an example, almost everyone claims to have one or more favorite colors. It is also true that when asked why they like a color or not, very few can answer.

It seems that in each of us there is “something” innate that determines this idiosyncratic link with colors. The psychology of color is the branch that analyzes the relationship between colors and personality.

Colors and personalities: we are all different

Each person perceives colors differently and attributes different meanings to them. And it is not only the functional differences of the perceptual-sensorial system that determine a different chromatic perception, we think for example of alterations such as color blindness, but it is the result of our own individual history that associates different emotional shades to each color.

As a result, trying to reduce the relationship between color and personality to a list of common rules and one-size-fits-all observations can be a very difficult undertaking. Indeed, perhaps it is even impossible, because we should also consider the following facts:

• The same color has different shades, some colder, others warmer, which can inspire different emotional reactions in the same person, even if it is the same color.

• Sometimes there is a dissociation between values ​​and preferences. A person may choose a certain color in one context, while they may prefer another in another situation. For example, black may be synonymous with class and elegance for some, while for others it is related to darkness and mourning.

Studies on the relationship between colors and personality

In most cases, the color of objects clearly affects people’s choice. However, there is not enough scientific evidence to confirm this, since most of the conclusions of the studies conducted so far depend on circumstantial evidence.

While we do not yet have a solid scientific framework to validate the relationship between colors and personality, there are some principles and phenomena that are accepted globally in the psychological realm. For example, there is a consensus around the observation that a person’s favorite colors largely reflect their psychophysical and cognitive state.

On the other hand, some specialists in color psychology suggest that, in general, it is not good to avoid a color. Indeed, they say that it is recommended to try to include all colors in one’s life, because it indicates a greater psycho-affective balance.

Tell me your favorite color and I’ll tell you who you are

Everything seems to indicate that most people resort to choosing one color or another in different aspects of daily life, when it comes to dressing up, decorating the house, choosing food, etc.

It could therefore be deduced that the regularity in the choice of the different colors is the reflection of the regularity of the personality characteristics, from which the relationship between the two would derive.

On the other hand, it has been hypothesized that the change from one favorite color to another may correspond to the need to use a new color as a stimulus for the development of new qualities, necessary to face new circumstances.

The color of the personality and the characteristics of the individual

We present some personality attributes that psychology, over the years, has associated with specific colors:

• Red. It suggests willpower, ambition and energy.
• Blue. Describes a tendency towards the stability of principles and values ​​and a desire to live in accordance with them.

• Yellow. It could indicate a dreamer and perfectionist personality.
• Green. It suggests a need for security and recognition.
• Orange. It can indicate the constant desire to relate and spend time in the company of other people.
• Black. It is associated with willpower and independence.
• Brown. It is combined with a love of the simple life and the formation of strong bonds of friendship.
• White. People who love this color have a personality that seeks simplicity, openness and purity.