Examination of Colour Emotions on a Sample of Slovenian Female Population

Due to the complexity of colour perception and comprehension and its importance in contemporary life, there is an increasing need to understand the emotions which appear as our response to the observation of colour or coloured object. In the present research, the emotional response to colour was studied in a test group of Slovene female observers who were divided into four groups according to their age. The analysis was performed based on a questionnaire which included 21 colour samples of seven basic hues and diff erent lightness and/or saturation. The observers were asked to arrange the colours according to fi ve distinct pairs of characteristics: active-passive, like-dislike, warm-cold, stimulating-calm, modern-classical. The results showed that considerable diff erences exist regarding colour emotions, i.e. the emotional response to colour. The most pronounced contrasts between the women of diff erent age were found with respect to the attribute pair like-dislike. In most cases women preferred colours that were recognized as active; these colours were mostly saturated and very intense. However, the ranking and selection of the most popular colours were diff erent across age groups. In the group of female observers aged between 31 and 50 years, saturated colours were found to be less popular. The diff erences in the emotional experience were also observed with other attributes such as stimulating-calm and warm-cold. Regardless of the age, black was found to be a special case since it was described as a passive colour by the majority of women, in spite of being very popular.