A new study has linked colors to how we perform cognitive tasks in testing situations. According to researchers, the color red makes people more accurate and the color blue makes people more creative.
Experts theorize that the color red commands greater attention because it evokes a primordial danger instinct, perhaps linked to blood or the intensity of fire. Wouldn’t early man be pleased that their menacing encounters with predatory carnivores, reptiles, and raptors have enhanced our ability to do proofreading and memorization?
While the color red foments mostly negative feelings, the color blue has a positive emotional correlation that may explain its link to creativity. Blue skis and calm waters were conducive to Mr. and Mrs. Homo Sapiens’ tool creation, storytelling, gardening experiments, and brainstorming sessions on how to domesticate horses.
And what of the color green, my personal favorite? The study found green to be comparative to neutral colors when used in test experiments. This surprised me, as I find green to be the most calming, reassuring color because it conjures nature and health. Perhaps that is just my modern interpretation, and not an innate reaction born out of evolutionary necessity. Perhaps the qualities that we value and associate with the color green are fundamentals that our ancestors took for granted.
