Effects of color–emotion association on facial expression judgments

Abstract

Color and emotion are metaphorically associated in the human mind. This color-emotion association affects perceptual judgment. For example, stimuli representing colors can affect judgment of facial expressions. The present study examined whether colors associated with happiness (e.g., yellow) and sadness (e.g., blue and gray) facilitate judgments of the associated emotions in facial expressions. We also examined whether temporal proximity between color and facial stimuli interacts with any of these effects. Participants were presented with pictures of a happy or sad face against a yellow-, blue-, or gray-colored background and asked to judge whether the face represented happiness or sadness as quickly as possible. The face stimulus was presented simultaneously (Experiment 1) or preceded for one second by the colored background (Experiment 2). The analysis of response time showed that yellow facilitated happiness judgment, while neither blue nor gray facilitated sadness judgment. Moreover, the effect was found only when the face and color stimuli were presented simultaneously. The results imply that the association of sadness with blue and gray is weak and, consequently, does not affect emotional judgment. Our results also suggest that temporal proximity is critical for the effect of the color-emotion association (e.g., yellow-happiness) on emotional judgment.

Emotional face recognition when a colored mask is worn: a cross-sectional study

“…By contrast, green is considered to prompt positive associations [35][36][37] . This implicit color-emotion association has already been tested in the context of EFE processing, with emotional faces being displayed either simultaneously with a color background [38][39][40][41][42][43] or after a background used as a priming cue 43,44 or even with the manipulation of the color of the face as such 45,46 . For example, Gil and Le Bigot (2014) 39 found that the recognition of happy faces was enhanced when they were displayed simultaneously with a pink or green background, rather than with a gray one.…”

Effects of lip and eye color on the emotion categorization of facial expressions

“…Our RT findings are consistent with a study examining the impact of background colors (specifically yellow and blue) on facial expression judgments. The previous study demonstrated that the RT for perceiving happiness was reduced in the presence of background colors, particularly yellow, while the judgment of sadness remained unaffected 37 . In another study investigating facial color (reddish, bluish, natural) and emotion perception, color manipulation led to reduced RTs for perceiving happy, neutral, and sad expressions 22 .…”

“…The previous study demonstrated that the RT for perceiving happiness was reduced in the presence of background colors, particularly yellow, while the judgment of sadness remained unaffected. 37 In another study investigating facial color (reddish, bluish, natural) and emotion perception, color manipulation led to reduced RTs for perceiving happy, neutral, and sad expressions. 22 Based on these findings, it is likely that the effects of partial color manipulation on the RT of happiness and sadness may align with the effects of background color changes, rather than facial colors.…”

Emotional Landscapes in Urban Design: Analyzing Color Emotional Responses of the Elderly to Community Outdoor Spaces in Yi Jie Qu

“…Positive emotions tend to be lively, aspiring, and warm, while negative emotions tend to be restless, anxious, and cold [14]. Moreover, previous studies have demonstrated correlation between color and emotion in both language images [15,16] and the visual perception of colors [17]. Therefore, it is feasible to link color and semantics to study human perception of the environment.…”