Evolution
The Evolution theory is not so bad, just think of the time of hunters and gatherers where the men were hunting in the night, here comes the color blue. The women collected fruit, think of red berries, strawberries, blackberries, apples and mangoes, the color pink comes from here. So you can say that ancestral tasks determine the color preferences of women and men.
Gender schema Theory
From an early age we stimulate gender stereotypes in children. Blue belongs to boys and pink belongs to girls. As children grow up, they develop color preferences in line with the image of their gender. That’s why men love blue and women like pink.
The funny thing is that this color distribution was exactly the other way around at the beginning of the last century. This was more the case with the Catholics. Jesus was pictured in red and Mary in blue. These theories already explain a lot, but now you still have the question of how one person likes light blue and the other dark blue? The ecologica Valence Theory has an explanation for this.
Ecologica Valence Theory:
The feeling of a color is largely determined by events that we experience in our lives. For example, if you get a car accident with a dark blue car, you will probably find that color less beautiful than the lighter blue tones.
How do colors get a meaning?
In the brain you have a number of nodes which together form a knowledge unit: think of a kind of spider web. Where there are all kinds of dots that are connected with wires.
You can think of the nodes such as – Emotion
– Sensory experience
– Semantic meaning
The different nodes that you have in your head are connected on the basis of a contract. The stronger the similarity between the two nodes, the stronger the connection. Think of that dark blue car again. At the word car you will think of the words faster; tires, driving or weighing than the words metal and radio.
Because you gain new events and experiences, you will create new nodes and connections or just strengthen them. Every color has a node in your head that keeps on growing as you get older.
At the word blue the words like air, water and trousers will awaken. But if you get a car accident with a dark blue car, the word pain will join the junction blue. This connection can change your perception or behavior when you hear the word blue.
Why do colors have different meanings?
Specific meanings are often hung from colors. Think of:
– Blue is calm
– Bruins is earthy
– Yellow is cheerful
– White is clean
Yet this meaning can also be different for everyone, this can depend on various factors.
– Experience, or target group. A farmer has a different association with the color green than an investor. Think of vegetables and money.
– Context, in a dating context, red stands for passion and love, but in performance the color stands for failure.
– Culture
Blue:
The color of the sky and the sea is associated with peace and quiet. It is the color that stands for mind, intelligence and intellect. Blue is seen as the color of trust, clear communication and reliability. With blue clothing you radiate balance and stability. You become productive in a blue space. More associations on the color blue are loyal, patient, sympathetic, friendly, truthful. But also conservative, calm, cold, status and power. This color is therefore often used in business logos.
Interior:
Blue is a cold color that stands for freshness and purity. This color gives the same effect on people as green and gives people who are in such a colored space a feeling of peace and trust. However, too much blue can be depressing. Do not use this color in any room. Blue in combination with soft tones retains its effect. If you are going to work in contrast, the effect of rest is gone.
Red:
The biological effects of red are stimulating and activating. The color increases heart rate and breathing and stimulates appetite. Red is a warm color that attracts attention and is associated with the body. The color of blood is the color of life, vitality, energy, strength and passion. Positive associations with red are also abundant in the area of love, passion and romance. Just think of temptation, sensuality, passion and excitement. Negative associations with red are intrusions, aggression, power, pain and danger.
Red has literally stopping power, just think about traffic signs. Wearing red clothing indicates that you have guts and that you are willing to draw your own track.
Interior:
Red is dominant. So use this color mainly to put accents in a room. Red is the color of action and passion. So if you want to make a space intimate and inviting, then it’s best to use red. Also use different shades here. When you combine red with black or white, this is very modern but cool at the same time. So pay particular attention to which colors you make a combination.
Yellow:
The color of the sun is a cheerful, striking color that stimulates the brain, thinking process and nervous system. Yellow is associated with energy, sun, spring, summer, a new beginning, life enjoyment and happiness. This color is cheerful and positive. Yellow gives focus and focus. Through the stimulation of the brain, the color stands for knowledge, wisdom and maturity, but also for creativity and imagination. Positive associations with yellow are a feeling of happiness, warmth, joy and joy. But beware, yellow also has its negative associations. Think for example of jealousy, unreliability, betrayal and cowardice. With yellow you can put good accents, making it often used in advertisements with offers.
Interior:
Yellow brightens someone up because they relate to the sun. If you have dark rooms, it is wise to use yellow. An excess of yellow is tiring, so here too the same rule to never paint a complete space in yellow. Staying in a predominantly yellow space makes you restless and you can quickly lose your temper.
Orange:
The mixing color between red and yellow represents stimulation of the brain and appetite. Orange is an attention-grabbing color that radiates warmth and enthusiasm. Due to the combination of red and yellow, orange is a combination of the physical (red) and emotional (yellow). The warm color stands for cheerfulness, optimism, pleasure, strength, energy, attention, movement, creativity, playfulness and accessibility. Negative associations with the color are not serious, cheap and abundant. Naturally, the color is also associated with King’s Day and football.
Interior:
Orange works stimulating and dispels depressive feelings. In a room where orange shades are to be found, people feel good because it radiates a warm feeling. It also encourages people to creativity. When you have given a wall an orange glow, paint the other walls with soft, neutral colors.
Green:
The color of nature relaxes the nervous system and suppresses hunger. Green can lower blood pressure and is soothing. As a result, green is also associated with healing, health and balance. Green is the color of fresh produce, fertility, spring and new life. It is a positive color with associations such as balance, harmony, balance, innovation, trust, safety and prosperity.
A green space gives peace and relaxation and relieves nervousness and anxiety. The color gives the room harmony, balance and balance. Very suitable for the bedroom.
If you wear green clothing, you say that you think creatively and are willing to work together. Negative associations with green are boredom, jealousy (see green from jealousy), and resistance.
Interior:
Green brings peace and balance as already mentioned. In principle, green can therefore be used for every space. It has been proven that when people are in a green environment they are stimulated to move. That is why spaces that look out onto a garden will often stimulate people to take a walk or cycle. Holiday parks often respond to this. Each bungalow is surrounded by green so that people indeed walk or cycle more.
Pink:
The color pink is a predominantly feminine color, which is seen both playfully and passionately. This soft shade of red relaxes and softens and is experienced as calming. The playful associations are energy, cheerful, sweet, youthful. Passionate associations are love, drama, flirting and exciting. Because of both sides of the color, he is often used in relation to love.
Purple:
The color purple is used a lot in royal houses over the centuries. Purple is also associated with luxury, style and wealth. In addition, it is a color that is seen as spiritual and that is associated with vision, truth and wisdom. The color is uplifting and calming and can stimulate creativity. Associations on purple are intuition, decisiveness, guidance, counseling and mediation.
Interior:
Purple mixes the cold of the blue with the warm of the red. Purple can very well come into its own in a space that has a lot of light. Then the warm comes forward. In combination with a form of white and then accents of green, this is even very modern. Purple is also used in spaces to give them a retro effect
Brown:
Color of wood and earth. Brown is a masculine color that radiates confidence and neutrality.
The brown color is widely used for products and businesses in the outdoors, rural life and outdoor shops and camping shops. Important color characteristics are stable, natural, commonplace, solid, reliable, conservative. Depending on the context, brown can also be seen as somewhat old-fashioned.
Interior:
Brown stands for safety. In many living rooms you will find brown because it is an elegant and refined color. It is also a color that is easy to combine with other colors. In combination with white or off-white, it is very stylish. Different shades of brown make it complete
White:
White and black are actually no colors. White is light and black is the lack of light. But because of the effect of white and black, we do not, of course, let them be unnamed here. White is seen as the color of innocence, purity and peace. The color has especially positive associations such as purity, virginity, simplicity, silence, calm, cleanliness and clarity. White stimulates to clean up, symbolizes a new beginning and cleanliness. Some more negative associations with white are naivety, emptiness and perfectionism
Gray:
Gray is often associated with boring, while anthracite (dark gray) is associated with luxury. It is generally a neutral, refined color. Positive associations are; sophisticated, tight and organized, negative associations; boring, gray, mass.
Black:
The color of the night and darkness has associations with death, mystery and power. Black is also dramatic and serious. It is a color that has dignity and standing and is therefore often used to express status, authority, elegance and style. At the same time, the color is also used to rebel, think for example of rebellious teenagers, punk and squatters.
