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the effect on the psyche 

body and soul are close-knited

due to new research of psychosomatic diseases the insight was more and more reached that all physical states are linked to the soul. consequently it can be said that colors are not only able to evoke physical reactions but beyond that they also have an impact on the psyche. the psyche which is even more dynamic can be influenced more easily than the body. therefore the psyche reacts faster to optical impulses and vibrations of the colors.

painters, psychologists and pedagogues of children have found out:

colors correspond to the temperament. many painters, psychologists and pedagogues of children have examined the connection between the psyche and colors, to get a clear picture of the interaction between emotions, moods and colors.

  1. the simple light irradiation is the original form of this interaction.
  2. after that comes the color vision.
  3. but even faster, even if more primitive, is the appearance of perception and the experience of different forms.

which color stands for which type of human?

as a rule, colors are an expression of vitality, intensity of feelings as well as of temperament.

  • it can generally be said that extroverted people respond more strongly to colors
  • whereas passive and depressive people show less interest in colors. these people are more attracted to colors like gray- or white tones.

black, white and the rorschachtest

in a strict sense, the colors black and white do not correspond to colors in this sense. that is why they are not seen as colors which can stimulate. as part of the already mentioned rorschachtests a lack of colorfulness is seen as a sign of pedantry, blocking or even schizophrenia.

some basic trends had been identified, by means of different experiments which were done with patients who had to show their feelings due to colors.

different people, different preferences of colors:

to set an example,

  1. people who are hysterical used the colors, which were made available for them, both completely unstructured and without any sense when designing mosaics as well as paintings.
  2. schizophrenic patientshave ignored the colors. they have often behaved like the people who are not able to see any colors.
  3. aggressive or maniac patients have only used a few colors. they preferred only red and orange colors.
  4. on the other hand, people who suffered from the alzheimer's disease have chosen green shades most.
  5. however, it is also possible that people, who are completely healthy, can have a bias to remarkable colors. it cannot be always said that the choice of remarkable colors is an indicator for a possible disorder of the psyche or of the body.
  6. on the one hand, an extroverted person prefers clear and brilliant colors,
  7. but on the other hand a shy and introverted person likes more soft pastel colors or discrete shades of gray.

what does the psychology of colors assume?

the psychology of colors assumes that the

  • preference to muted colors comes from the feminine character whereas the
  • preference to clear and vibrant colors indicates more the masculine charakter.

colors and children :

children like clear colors. psychologists of colors have found out that an excess of vibrant colors, which are painted in the work room or in the bureau, can cause a disorder of the adult's concentration. it is vice versa for children and teenagers. they have a large desire for bright colors. that is why toys are so colorful for children. children at the age of four to seven years old desire most conspicuous colors and do not like dull pastel colors or neutral gray shades.

there is a classical psychological test in which children are asked to sort different colored puzzle stones which have different geometric forms.

  • normal children always put the pieces together and this next to colors. this phenomenon can be defined as an emotional and spontaneous personality.
  • if you do the same test with adults you can see that they concentrate more on the forms of the puzzle pieces than on the colors. this phenomenon can be seen this way : that adults are revealing their intellectual and their domineering streak.

only with an increasing age the interest in stereopsis and the interest in aspects of designing are developing. here you can see that the intellectual performance is replacing the impulsivity. however, can you see that an exact and nuanced color vision as well as the highly defined level of differentiation which is connected to the color vision does not appear earlier than at the age of 15. At this age ( 15 ) it is comletely developed.

the influence of the psyche by specific colors:

to make a little summary: we have, by now, said that colors have an effect on our psyche and these are only general meditations to make the psychology of colors easier to understand, and now we intend to elaborate on the effect of specified colors.

red:

on the one hand, the color red excites us and makes us active, but on the other hand, red is able to annoy us and it can also cause turmoil. we have made experiments with children who have played with red-colored buliding blocks and these children tended more to be nervous and aggressive. whereas with adults ( it was the same test like it was mentioned above ) it could be noted that these adults who preferred the red-colored buliding blocks also preferred it to take higher risk. these adults like more the allure of the unpredictable and this, perhaps in terms of game of luck or in terms of love. game halls and casinos are therefore often equipped with red most. the color red intensifies a luxury and generous atmosphere and mood - when you are in this atmosphere/mood you are not nit- picking.

colors always manage our emotions and influence our perceptions of time and space, and this wherever we are surrounded by them.

colors have an effect on objects concerning their form and size:

for example, red-colored objects have the effect on us that we think that they are big and heavy. at the same time we are feeling that the subjectively experienced time is running much faster than normally. areas which are painted in red seem to inch their way towards the observer. that is why these areas seem to be much closer to us than they are in real terms. these phenomena coincide with the results of the color-medical research. we have already reported about these. the color red has an increasing effect on the tension of our muscles and also on the pulse beat. when you reflect about this, how an object would sit heavily in your hand, you automatically associate this with the tension of your muscles in your arm. when the muscle on the other hand, when you want to say something about your biological clock you automatically think subjectively about your heart. tone is increasing, we automatically think the object must be more heavy. this is the same example with your pulse, if the pulse goes faster you also think automatically that the time is running faster. apart from that, red-colored light is focused behind the retina, to compensate this, the eye intends to take out the inner picture. the result of this acting by the eye is that red-colored pictures seem to approach spatially. obviously, is our normal perception of reality not as objectively as we think. our subjectively measuring tools are our physical and emotional sentiments with which we are exploring our environment. it seems to be obvious that these sentiments are in particular influenced by colors. if you intend to observe something as closely as possible and as closely as neutral it is not advisable to be surrounded by too much red.

green:

for these actions, like to work precisely and purposefully, green colored shades are the most appropriate ones. these colors are able to create an atmosphere of emotional balance. green has the ability to be relaxing for our eyes. dark green shades are predominant in all areas where people have to concentrate much on their work. here we can point out again the operating rooms, which we have already mentioned. other possible applications for green-colored shades are specially toned windows and sunglasses but also table tennis, billard and poker tables.

blue:

compared with green is the color blue a color which also systematically misleads our senses like the color red. weights and measures are always underestimated when they are surrounded by blue-colored shades. objects seem to be smaller and lighter when they are surrounded by blue-colored shades. things which happen are perceived to be much more slower and they seem to happen in a much more peaceful sphere. the described phenomena are not causing any confusion or amazement or even any surprise because we have already mentioned that blue has a calming-down effect on muscles and on our heart. medical and psychological experiments attest that the effects of blue are the total contrary to the effects of red. areas which are painted in blue can generate the illusion of width and distance. that is also the reason why rooms which are painted in blue seem to be bigger. this advantage is often used by painters who do compositions in perspective. a blue-colored background of a painting appears to hover aestetically in the remoteness for our senses.

wilhelm wundt's opinion concerning blue:

the psychologist wilhelm wundt brought it up one hundred years ago that the color blue engages reluctance and inhibition. whereas the color yellow had the characteristic that it engenderes stimulus or even thrill.

wassily kandinsky's opinion concerning blue:

wassily kandinsky, a russian painter had chosen other words to explain this situation : he said to characterise the dynamic of both colors that blue is concentrical and yellow ist the color of eccentric. according to his opinion, people who are attracted to certain colors have also the qualities of these colors to which they feel attracted to. he also added that people who are prudent should also prefer green or gray. kandinsky classified them ( green and gray ) as passive and civic.

goethe's opinion concerning colors:

to show another example how people look different at the same things can be shown with the example of goethe. goethe described mental dimensions of colors more poetical, namely : the color yellow stimulates a quick intellectual grasp, whereas the color orange evokes vivid feelings. according to goethes theory, the color red activates an excited acting and the color green evokes sentimental dreams. on the other hand, blue seizes to serious meditation and violet was seen by goethe as the color with a suspire regard.

warm colors and cold colors, they have an effect on temperature:

can also steer the sensitivity of temperature of the mankind. to prove this there was made an experiment in which two offices were painted. one office was painted in blue-green shades and the other office was painted in orange-red shades. in each room was a person on which the test was made, the testperson had to make office work. after that, the heads of the experiment had reduced the temperature in each room ( without announcing anything ). this was made to experience the link between the sense of warmth and colors.

now we can say that the person who was placed in the blue-green colored room claimed that is was cold in this room ( the room was fifteen degrees cold ). the other person who was placed in the orange-red colored room only began to claim that it was cold, as the temperature amounted to eleven degrees.

what colortests can reveal :

very comprehensive sudies have shown that the color blue is the most favourite color worldwide and this regardless to the race, the age, the gender or even the profession. second place ranged the color red, third place ranged green, fourth place ranged violet, fifth place ranged orange and finally, the sixth and last place, ranged yellow at the scale of the most favourite colors in the world. however, these values are only statistical. however, there are numerous individual color-tests to research specific personality characteristics. only the colors to which people are really attracted to have a relevance.

for example, if you give a person the chance to chose its personally favourite color of a hull there can three typical reaction matters occur :

1. the person tested hesitates and the person is only attracted to one or two colors, or the person is not attracted to any color. this can be assessed as a signal of emotional freeze. if you use the language of freud it is related to the overdeveloped or the tyrannical over-i.

2. the person tested choses a handful of favourite colors which can generally be seen as a harmonious character. the i and the impetus of the it are balanced within this person.

3. the person tested choses quickly its favourite colors and the person likes every color, he or she has chosen. this can often be seen as a hint to an unbridled or infantile emotional life at which the it dominates.

the test of the swiss psychologist max lüscher :

max lüscher, a swiss psychologist has developed a very famous test due to color-psychological research. this test is used in a more simple way in the medical sector, the human resource management and in pedagogy. within this, the person tested has twice a series of eight color-cards which the person has to arrange in his or her personal scale of popularity. the following colors are used : red, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, gray and black. due to the symbolmeaning of the different colors you can get a convincing profile of personality and this only due to the individual ranking of the eight color-cards. the first two color-cards are interpreted with the statement about the positive identification and the two last ones are interpreted as that what the person tested rejects or denies. for example, if the first two color-cards are yellow and red, is this a sign of curiosity and strength of will. a series which, on the other hand, begins with brown and black indicates a person who is stingy and who has depressive affinities. then the test is being made again and it is interesting that this time the variety gives us the more reliable information.

the test of the color pyramids by max pfister:

max pfister, another swiss psychologist, has developed the test of color pyramids. this test has mainly the purpose to diagnose mental illnesses. the pyramid is made out of fifteen squares, but the basis is made out of five squares. one square out of the five ones makes the tip. this pyramid has to be colored with twenty-four different colored cards for three times, made by the person tested. the color design will be construed on its own. however, while doing this the supreme square will be given the most attention. this square is the main tone which dominates the rest of the composition.

  • if the supreme square is a red one, you can say that it stands for impulsivity.
  • an orange one reflects a pleasant nature,
  • however, a yellow one means sociableness.
  • a black one at the top means depression or agression.
  • a violet one points to anxieties,
  • brown reveals dissatisfaction,
  • blue shows self-observation and logic,
  • whereas green symbolizes sentimentality.

the pyramid test is structured interestingly but the test is not very far known because of its circuitousness.

the colortest by the german psychologist frieling :

this is the same argument for the complicated color test which was made by frieling, a german psychologist. at his test the person tested shall create a color mosaic, made out of small colored paper pieces. this test must be done by the test person twice. for the first time on a black-colored square and for the second time on a white-colored square, because the colors are shining differently, depending on the underground. however, there are at least needed twenty-six different mosaics, so that the research can make one assessment.that is why the test is used so rarely.

due to evolutional,biological influences and due to cultural, historical influences, colors have developed to powerful symbols. through the centuries, colors became clear information carriers and they also became a strong mental character. a color stimulation has influence on a conscious and influence on an unconscious base, also nonverbally and interculturally. this stimulation activates intensively our feelings. people should utilize much more colors as an diagnostical facility, because you can overstep bounds with the co-operation with colors.

therapy of color of karl ryberg mosaik verlag 1992 page 59-68