Colours: How do they influence our behaviour, creativity and sex life?

How do colours influence our behaviour?

Fabienne Broucaret

13 Aug 2014

updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:52

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Blue for relaxation
It's a commonly held belief that cold colours have a calming effect. Scientists explain this by the fact that the parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated by cold colours ( blue, purple). They stimulate the body to reduce blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rate. Those actions are essentials for relaxation.

A relaxing atmosphere also enables us to stimulate creativity. There are numerous proofs of that.
Let's begin with wallpaper. Could the colour of your wallpaper influence the way you work? After many corresponding studies, Researchers have concluded that the answer is yes.
With blue wallpaper, you can better execute simple tasks. But you will also be especially creative!
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See life in pink
There is also a colour that is warm and relaxing: pink. Here is a demonstration that is especially interesting: We owe it to the scientist Alexander Schauss. in 1979, he managed to convince Miller and Baker the majors of the American Navy correctional center of Seattle, to paint their cells' walls in pink.

According to the report given to the Navy after 5 months of experimentation, just 15-minutes exposure to this colour was enough to reduce the aggressiveness of the prisoners for 30 minutes at least.
Since then, pink has been used in relaxation rooms in psychiatric institutions, on the school walls of hyperactive children, and also in Swiss prisons.
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Sexual colours
Is it possible that there might be a link between the frequency of sexual intercourse and the colour of our room (walls, sheets, furniture)? 2000 people have agreed to supply information about the colour of their room's curtains and how many times they had sex every week (Study of Littlewoods shop, 2012, reported by the Daily Mail).

Red is obviously on the top of the list (3.18 sexual encounters per week), but is exceeded by purple ( 3.49 sexual encounters). White (2.02 sexual encounters), beige (1.97 sexual encounters) and grey (1.80 sexual encounters) come at the bottom of the list.
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The ‘learning’ colours
Imagine that we show you 48 photos half of which are in black and white and the other half in colour. A few minutes later, we show you once again those photos mixed with 48 new one of which, once again, half is in black and white. And you are asked: Which photos have you seen previously? Significantly, you will remember the coloured photos the most and the black and white ones much less. (Wichmann, 2002).

Colours have a spectacular impact on our memory. For those of us who have to learn their lessons, colour improves the learning process from 55 to 78% (Embry, 1984). And the best news is that we don't learn in a stupid way: colour helps us to understand. It increases understanding by 73% (Johnson, 1992). So, long live coloured marker pens and colourful presentations!
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At the office
Productivity is better in offices where there is a dominant colour/hue than in offices with white walls and without pronounced colour for the furniture. White work rooms can cause tiredness for employees, which in the long-term is damaging for their performance (Elif Öztürk, 2010).

But once we know that we have to forget white walls and black desks, what are the best colours? In an experiment, volunteers were asked to type for one hour, in a blue office, or in a red one. The volunteers in red office have been more active, when the volunteers in blue office have been more relaxed (Kwallek, Lewis et Robbins, 1988).
The combination "Blue-Green" causes also an augmentation of levels of depression and a decline of activity level (Ainsworth, Simpson and Cassell, 1993).

In “THE POWER OF COLOURS”, designer Jean- Gabriel Causse, shows the impact of pink, blue or red on our capacity to concentrate and learn, our creativity – and even on our sex life. We find out more.

Jean-Gabriel Causse, designer and colourist, bases his theories on an impressive compilation of scientific studies which show “the astonishing power of colours”. This 44-year-old ex-publicist usually advises brands, but he does more than that. He has, for example, chosen the colours of the new child psychiatric hospital of Marseille in 2012, based on the teenagers’ conditions.

In his book on the topic, he advises us to use colours wisely by giving us instructions on and explanations of their symbolism. How did you paint the walls of your bedroom or of your office? What is the colour of your wallpaper? Does your child use green or pink marker pens to learn his lessons? After reading some of his explanations, we bet that you will no longer choose your colours by chance, especially when it comes to the interior decoration of your house.

Fabienne BROUCARET

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