Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations.
There is a growing body of literature to show that color can convey information, owing to its emotionally meaningful associations. Most research so far has focused on negative hue-meaning associations (e.g., red) with the exception of the positive aspects associated with green. We therefore set out...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4123920?pdf=render |
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author | Sandrine Gil Ludovic Le Bigot |
author_facet | Sandrine Gil Ludovic Le Bigot |
author_sort | Sandrine Gil |
collection | DOAJ |
description | There is a growing body of literature to show that color can convey information, owing to its emotionally meaningful associations. Most research so far has focused on negative hue-meaning associations (e.g., red) with the exception of the positive aspects associated with green. We therefore set out to investigate the positive associations of two colors (i.e., green and pink), using an emotional facial expression recognition task in which colors provided the emotional contextual information for the face processing. In two experiments, green and pink backgrounds enhanced happy face recognition and impaired sad face recognition, compared with a control color (gray). Our findings therefore suggest that because green and pink both convey positive information, they facilitate the processing of emotionally congruent facial expressions (i.e., faces expressing happiness) and interfere with that of incongruent facial expressions (i.e., faces expressing sadness). Data also revealed a positive association for white. Results are discussed within the theoretical framework of emotional cue processing and color meaning. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:02:53Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-45c0ea46ba1e4b9e9f386739a0ee6db9 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1932-6203 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:02:53Z |
publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
record_format | Article |
series | PLoS ONE |
spelling | doaj.art-45c0ea46ba1e4b9e9f386739a0ee6db92022-12-22T02:40:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0198e10429110.1371/journal.pone.0104291Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations.Sandrine GilLudovic Le BigotThere is a growing body of literature to show that color can convey information, owing to its emotionally meaningful associations. Most research so far has focused on negative hue-meaning associations (e.g., red) with the exception of the positive aspects associated with green. We therefore set out to investigate the positive associations of two colors (i.e., green and pink), using an emotional facial expression recognition task in which colors provided the emotional contextual information for the face processing. In two experiments, green and pink backgrounds enhanced happy face recognition and impaired sad face recognition, compared with a control color (gray). Our findings therefore suggest that because green and pink both convey positive information, they facilitate the processing of emotionally congruent facial expressions (i.e., faces expressing happiness) and interfere with that of incongruent facial expressions (i.e., faces expressing sadness). Data also revealed a positive association for white. Results are discussed within the theoretical framework of emotional cue processing and color meaning.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4123920?pdf=render |
spellingShingle | Sandrine Gil Ludovic Le Bigot Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. PLoS ONE |
title | Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. |
title_full | Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. |
title_fullStr | Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. |
title_full_unstemmed | Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. |
title_short | Seeing life through positive-tinted glasses: color-meaning associations. |
title_sort | seeing life through positive tinted glasses color meaning associations |
url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4123920?pdf=render |
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