Term Paper

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Running Head: THE EFFECTS OF COLORS ON MOODS

THE EFFECTS OF COLORS ON MOODS 2

The Effects of Colors on Moods

Community College of Philadelphia

Abstract

The purpose of this study aims to seek if the color of an interior influences student's mood, using two rooms located on the main campus. I chose the main campus due to the volume of students that frequent the campus instead of the regional campus. The research method is experimental. Students who were currently taking a psychology course will be asked to volunteer to partake in the study; the student will consist of younger and older, both and male and female. The students will be observed for attentiveness, sleeping while sitting in on a lecture in a painted and decorated room with either warm or cool colors. I intend for this research to help understand more about colors and how they affect our feelings and, therefore, make a better decision and increase the use of spaces when choosing colors for different areas to suit the purpose for which they are designed.

 

The Effects of Colors on Mood

Colors may seem unimportant and straightforward, but they affect our daily lives more than we may know. If someone is feeling angry, it might be simple because they’re mad, or it may be perhaps that they’re surrounded by or watching a specific color. People's moods can change simply because they’re viewing different colors. There are many theories on just how simple color can change one's whole mood. According to K. Yildrim, 2007 colors affect emotion and perspectives depending on their brightness, shade, tint, and tone. However, the effect of color on moods is determined by the age and gender of the person in question. For instance, warm colors such as red, yellow, and orange are associated with happiness, excitement, optimism, and energy. On the other hand, cool colors include green, blue, and purple and are associated with calmness and are perceived to be soothing but are at times perceived to express sadness. 

In assessing the effect of color on moods, Kurt & Osueke (2014) researched college students as the study participants. They hypothesized that colors need to be studied because they are experienced in the environments where other complex types of interactions occur, thereby affecting behaviors, moods, and perceptions. The research was inspired by the knowledge of color having an arousal effect on people. Colors affect how people feel both physically and psychologically. Ideally, different colors represent different moods. Therefore, it is essential for architects to wisely choose the colors to paint in enclosed spaces depending on who will inhabit the area and the use under which space will be put (Osueke, 2014). 

Proposed Methods

This study aims to develop the affect in which color and emotion association within the background of an internal environment is necessary for understanding how color space influences human behaviors. Designers and interior designers need to understand the effect of color to reduce the psychological threats to create emotional well-being environments. 

Participants

 To test the hypothesis, I will recruit 60 Psychology primary students from Community College of Philadelphia. I will recruit these students by placing a sign-up sheet with a link for student volunteers to sign up online. The sign-up sheet, however, will only be placed in rooms where Psychology courses at being held. The 60 students will be randomly generated from the sign-up selection with 30 males and 30 females. Participants who are chosen will receive class credit to apply to an assignment of choice in their Psychology course.

Measures

The dependent variable in this study is mood. The hypothesis is that moods are determined by the color of a building's interior, e.g., where students study. This study aimed to investigate variations in participants' moods on two primary colors, warm and cool. This helps identify facts associated with colors as a tool to use in studying human behavior where moods are involved. 

One promising approach to measure moods is the constant-sum method that is based on the constant-stimulus model. This method requires the researcher to indicate the relative magnitude of two stimuli by dividing 100 points between them. This approach is based on Wexner's experiment in which he described 12 mood tones using two or more adjectives. i.e., "exciting and stimulating; secure and comfortable; distressed and disturbed, upset; tender and soothing; protective and defending; despondent, dejected, unhappy and melancholy; calm, peaceful and serene; dignified and stately; cheerful, jovial and joyful; defiant, contrary, hostile; and powerful, strong, masterful; and Pleasant" (Schaie, 1961). In his work, ten colors are represented, but, in this study, only two colors will be used (a warm-a blend of yellow, red, and orange and cool- a combination of blue and purple), and I will use only the first four mood tones.

Design

The design for this study will be a between-subject experiment consisting of one experimental group and one control group. In my investigation, a control is needed to distinguish the effects of the independent variable of the impact of other variables that might produce a systematic error. The proper control group will allow me to conclude that the observed relationship is between my independent and dependent variables. For this study, the independent variable will be colors. The dependent variable will be mood. The independent variable will be changed for the experimental group while remaining the same for the control group. The experiment group will spend 60 minutes in a room painted with warm colors, and their mood will be observed. The control group will spend 60 minutes in a room painted with and decorated with cool colors in the their mood will be measured. The participant will be randomly assigned to each group totaling 30 participants in each group; random assignment helps ensure that groups are comparable when the experiment begins; this helps avoid bias in the composition of the different groups. Therefore, I am confident that any difference is attributed to the treatment itself, assuming that everything is constant. However, there are some confounding factors that I might account for, and that is things that happen during the experiment, such as a rowdy participant in one group and not the other. 

I will use two rooms in my experiment: brightly colored with warm colors and dimly colored with cool colors for my control group. The participants will be observed for attentiveness, activity, participation in learning, and chances of sleeping during lectures. 

Procedure

           After participants are randomly assigned, each student will receive an email letting them know about the nature of the experiment and at what group each participant will belong. To avoid demand Characteristic, the email only let the students know that colors may affect their mood. Groups will be identified as Group A or Group B. Each group will be given instructions to report to different a different room located on the main campus and the date and time. When students enter the room, a consent form will be given (See appendix). The experimental group identified as Group A will be given instruction to report to room 200. This room will be painted and decorated with warm colors. Control grouped identified as Group B will report to 115. This room will be painted and decorated using with cool colors. Both groups will spend 60 minutes in the rooms, and during this, they will be observed for attentiveness, activity, participation in learning, and the chance of sleeping during a lecture; this will ensure that Observer bias does not occur.

In the study to examine the effect of color on moods, bias might be present. Before testing, bias might arise from a flawed study design. As the researcher, to prevent a faulty study design, I plan to standardize data collection and use study objectives to select the method. 

Results

The study's purpose is to examine the relationship of one's mood based on the color of a building interior, e.g., where students study. The colors that are used will be warm colors and cool colors. I used the mean and standard deviation to identify the effects of colors on mood. I expect the estimated mean and standard deviation are Mt= 6.4 SD 2.16; Mc=3.93, SD 1.39, with a large effect size. To analyze the result of the experiment, a t-test will be performed using SPSS. It is crucial to reiterate that confounding variables such as gender, brightness, age, contexts, and cultural factors are controlled. The color red is likely to grab attention first and reflects excitement. Birren (2006) discovered that warm colors such as yellow and red increase arousal compared to blue and green colors.

Discussion

By examining the effects of colors on ones' mood over the years, and how interior paint can affect one emotional state, we can better understand the psychology behind why humans react to colors negatively or positively. A replicated experiment will be required to show how close the results are to each other and remove any form of bias that might be present. Given that mood is a highly uncontrolled factor, confirm if a color impacts mood. Using a repeated measures design is beneficial in my study. This study's main strength is controlling participants' characteristics, and significant results will require a smaller sample size.

If the experiment results are statistically significant, the results would conclude that warm color is correlated with happiness. The research would find participants more active in learning from a setting with warm colors and less engaged in learning from an environment with cool colors. The study concludes that warm colors (red, yellow, orange) trigger a psychological reaction associated with mood, which happens to vary with age, gender, and even culture. The mechanism involved is that when the eye perceives color, it is converted into an electric impulse transmitted to the hypothalamus. Hypothalamus is the organ that regulates human responses such as appetite, sexual behavior, sleep, and other human behaviors (Osueke, 2014). 

In the future, the experiment would be used with young children and older adults aged 50 years and above to see a distinct variation due to color changes. The results of this study may be used to determine the right color to use in a building. Depending on the target users and the actual use for which a building is intended for. Ideally, architecture may find this study helpful in determining the choice of color to use in various facilities. For example, a building targeting child must have a different color as one intended for use by adults.

Appendix A

PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER 

Dr. Denene Rice

Community College of Philadelphia

[email protected]

The purpose of this study is to examine if colors affect people’s mood and identify if the effects are the same for both males and females and people of different ages. Your participation involves sitting in on a lecture in a painted and decorated room with either warms colors (red, yellow, and orange) or cool colors (blue and gray). This experiment will take a maximum of 60 minutes.

The data collected may be presented at conferences, in publications, and posted on the internet. No personally identifying information will be stored or disseminated with the results. There are no immediate benefits to you other than learning about psychology research. However, the researcher results will inform architects to color buildings according to their purpose and target users’ age and gender. You may experience negative feelings while in the rooms. Also, you may find that you get tired and bored during the experiment. The experimenter will explain how you can take breaks during the investigation to relieve this.

Your participation in this study is voluntary, and you are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue participation at any time without penalty.

Your confidentiality will be maintained by placing only a code number and no personally identifying information in the resulting data files. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your rights, you may contact the Confidentiality counselor at Community College of Philadelphia at 555-297-8141.

Consent

I have read the above information and understand that my participation is voluntary. I am free to withdraw my consent and discontinue my participation in the project at any time without penalty. I attest that I am at least 18 years of age. I also understand that the study results will be treated in strict confidence and reported as group data sets without personally identifying information, possibly in scholarly publications.

 

 

 Participant's signature ______________________________ Date __________ 

 

 Investigator's signature _____________________________ Date __________ 

Thank you for your participation!

References

David J. Hauser, P. C. (2018). Are Manipulation Checks Necessary? Front. Psychol.,. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00998/full

Frost, J. (n.d.). Random Assignment in Experiments. Retrieved from Statistics By Jim: https://statisticsbyjim.com/basics/random-assignment-experiments

Jessica K. Paulus, I. J. (2014). Opportunities and challenges in using studies without a control group in comparative effectiveness reviews. Research Synthesis Method, 5(2), 152-161.

Jr., G. L. W., Ciarocco, N. J., & Strohmetz, D. B. (2018). Discovering the Scientist Within: Research Methods in Psychology (Second ed.). Worth Publishers.

K. Yildirim, A. A.-B. (2007). Effects of indoor color on mood and cognitive performance. Journal of Building and Environment, 3233-3240.

Osueke, S. K. (2014). The Effects of Color on the Moods of College Students. SAGE Journals of Personality , Educational Psychology & Counseling , Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244014525423

Schaie, K. W. (1961). Scaling the Association between Colors and Mood-Tones. The American Journal of Psychology, 74(2), 266-273