What does your favorite color say about you?

What is your favorite color? This is one of the first questions we ask when trying to get to know someone, after all, this is one of the first choices we make in life. But is this really a personality identifier? THE color psychology — a field that studies the impact that colors have on our emotions and behavior — says yes! check out What does your favorite color say about you?!

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What is color psychology?

Color psychology is a study that seeks to understand how the human brain identifies and interprets existing colors as sensations, its intention is to predict the effects that each color generates on people's emotions, feelings and desires. This concept is already widely used in the marketing, where each detail aims to cause a certain visual impact and encourage the purchase of a particular product or service.

Have you noticed how the biggest networks of fast food McDonald's, Burger King e Bob's — do you use yellow and red in your compositions? There is a reason for this! While yellow conveys feelings of comfort and trustworthiness and is linked to warmth and happiness, red can be associated with feelings of hunger, and there is even a name for the combination of these colors. The so-called ketchup and mustard theory predicts that the customer will feel like stopping for something to eat. It works, doesn't it?

But colors are not just used to arouse the desire to buy. Color psychology recognizes eight primary emotions in people: joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise, curiosity and acceptance. Each of them is represented by a color and generates an influence on human behavior. Warm colors, for example, are linked to a feeling of energy, action and enthusiasm, while cold colors are linked to rationality, serenity and functionality.

Why do we have favorite colors?

From childhood we adopt a favorite color that may or may not change throughout our lives. But why do we develop a preference for a certain color? According to Dr. Karen Schloss — assistant professor of psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison and creator of ecological valence theory — this is because we give colors a special meaning in our mind and according to our emotional experiences, we unintentionally prefer a certain color.

Even the media can be related to our favorite color. It is very likely, for example, that a girl has pink as her favorite color during her childhood — especially at 5 or 6 years old — after all, this is the color culturally linked to the female gender and is present in most toys produced directly for women. girls, like dolls. Meanwhile, boys tend to have a repulsion for this color, and it's almost impossible to find a man who claims that pink is his favorite color.

It is also possible to develop a preference for a color through a intense emotional experience. This is because the subjective stories are responsible for the attraction or repulsion for a certain color, and according to the Dr. Schloss that's why our predilection for colors can change over time. If the person you fell in love with was wearing green during your first date, for example, there's a possibility that this will become your new favorite color.

What does my favorite color say about me?

Maybe you've already asked yourself, "why is blue my favorite color?". After all, the color blue has been the great champion for centuries in color preference polls. This is because, cross-culturally, the blue color generates a positive response in most people for being associated with survival and tranquility — being present in aquatic environments, such as rivers, lakes and seas and in the sky on clear days. About that, brown is often the least preferred of colors, as it is associated with biological waste and decomposing food.

But, despite the color blue being the preference of most people, there are still those attracted even by unpopular shades, such as orange and brown itself. The choice of our favorite colors produce sensations that can affect our mood, influence our behavior and even change our understanding of something. So, does your favorite color match your personality? Check out!

Blue

And let's start with the darling blue color! blue is the color of trust, harmony and balance, and is therefore closely associated with the professionalism and security. People who have blue as their favorite color may be more peaceful, charming, friendly and intuitive, in addition to being more closely related to spirituality and artistic gifts. Being a primary and cold color, according to color psychology, blue is also related to feelings such as: concentration, loyalty, cleanliness, cold and depression.

Furthermore, according to two studies carried out in Japan, the use of blue light can affect people's state of mind. In 2013, research showed that using blue lights at train stations reduced the suicide rate by 84% — despite this number being statistically unstable — and in 2017 another study showed that people who experienced psychological stress relaxed more quickly when subjected to blue lighting.

Red

Red is a primary color with a totally different response than blue. While blue communicates tranquility, red is associated with impetuosity, seduction and dynamism. People with a fondness for red are often undeniably in love, but also positive, determined and impulsive — also called short-tempered, but who stop at nothing to pursue their goals.

Being the color of blood, red is considered the most attractive color, being linked to essence of life and high-intensity emotionsand: not only the passion and love, but also anger, aggressiveness and sensations like anger, fury, heat, danger, violence and excitement. According to experience, this color can even provoke stimuli in the human body, such as an increase in blood pressure and the number of heartbeats.

Yellow

Last primary color on our list, yellow is considered the color of optimism, happiness and energy. If you have yellow as your favorite color, chances are you are humorous, ambitious and enterprising, and can be considered a person illuminated. This color is also linked to sensations such as wisdom, joy, envy, illness, idealism and cowardice. This is because, according to color psychology, yellow is an ambiguous color, representing good and evil, optimism and jealousy, understanding and betrayal.

Orange

Like red, orange is a color that conveys the sensation of movement, action and stimulus, but with less intensity. However, unlike red which can also be associated with aggression, orange is linked to creativity and communication. People with orange as their favorite color tend to be extremely social, warm, inviting and adventurous, which may be a little fickle. Other sensations linked to this color are: humor, warmth, extravagance and enthusiasm.

Green

There is no way to think about the color green without associating it with nature, which is why this color conveys well-being, vitality, freedom and renewal. Those who have green as their favorite color tend to be a person calm, supportive, loyal and spontaneous. These people are considered free spirits, good friends and are able to control negative thoughts. This color is also linked to sensations such as perseverance, pride, good luck, youth, generosity, immaturity and jealousy.

Pink

universal color of love and romance, pink is often associated with innocence and femininity. That's people's favorite color sensitive, compassionate and loving. Mixture of red and white, according to color psychology, pink can also be associated with sensuality, due to the red tones of its composition, but this is mitigated by the innocence coming from white. A curiosity is that, despite being a preference among girls during childhood, few adult women keep pink as their favorite color.

Purple

Purple or lilac? You can choose how to call this color, which is linked to spirituality, creativity and wisdom. As one of the most difficult and expensive colors to obtain in the past, purple has also become known as a symbol of Royals and power. People with purple as their favorite color tend to be intriguing, mysterious, adorable and very connected to the faith. Purple is also linked to sensations such as arrogance, sensitivity, eroticism and intimacy.

Marrom

Yes, the least favorite color of all also has its admirers. Brown is the color of the earth, and is associated with people who tend to be practical, hardworking and realistic. This color is also associated with good values, honesty and family. If brown is your favorite color, it is very possible that you are a person capable of appreciating and find happiness in the simplest things.

Black

How about a nothing basic little black? Color of shadow, night and the unknown, the color black represents the total absence of light and the absorption of energies. A favorite of many people, this color is on elegance, mystery and power. People with a preference for black tend to be introspective, silent and confident. Furthermore, they are often entrepreneurial and have high leadership spirit. Because it is linked to death, the color black can also be associated with death. depression, pessimism and intimidation.

White

international color of peace, white also represents tranquility, harmony and purity. Unlike black, which represents the total absence of light, white is pure light — without the presence of pigments — and is linked to the optimism, innovation and clarity. Generally, those who like white a lot tend to be a peaceful, honest and patient. The light spirit, those people never overstep their moral boundaries and are open to learn new things.

Gray

Gray is a peculiar color that represents the neutrality. Mixture of black and white — two powerful colors — gray communicates the let go of emotions. People who have gray as their favorite color tend to be introverted, mature, peaceful and distant from reality. These people tend to flourish in leadership roles because they are integral, honest and transparent, but tend to stay in their comfort zone. Gray is also linked to sensations such as indecision, pessimism and conservatism.

But attention, the information above is just hypotheses and speculations based on the general rules of color messages and should not be taken as absolute truths. Also because the human personality keeps unknown variables, and color vision is extremely related to the culture of a certain region. But so, do you agree with what your favorite color says about you? Tell us in the comments!

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Sources: BBC, Color Meanings, PubMed.