The Blue psychology
“Blue is the closest color to the truth”
Steven Tyler
About 70% of people on the planet would agree that blue is their favorite color. Irrespective of gender, age and other demographics, the color ‘blue’ and its shades are known to be accepted far and wide. Blue is embraced as the color of heaven and authority.
A survey conducted by YouGov in 10 countries across four continents shows that blue is the most popular color among people
Let’s dig a little deeper and find out why is blue the favorite color of everyone?
Why is blue the world’s favorite color?
There are four psychological primary colors — red, blue, yellow and green. They represent the body, the mind, the emotions and the essential balance between these three respectively.
Blue, the color of the sea and sky has calming effects on our body. Bright Blue manifests intelligence, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, reflection, clear communication and calm. It is essentially soothing and affects us mentally. They stimulate clear thought and enhance concentration.
According to Color Psychology, “Light blue is the color most linked to creativity. It inspires safety, serenity, personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. It also symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery, and spiritual realization.”
In fact, Pantone recently released “Natural Optimism”, a color that is designed to make people feel good just by looking at it!
A study in The Journal of Business Research revealed that customers found stores with a blue interior quite attractive and spend more time shopping in such stores. (Babin, Hardesty, & Suter, 2003).
In another report, there was a dramatic decrease in crime after blue streetlights were set up in Glasgow, Scotland in 2000 and Nara, Japan in 2005 (Shimbun, 2008).
There have been several instances where the blue colored was used as initiatives to create a calm and serene effect.
Blue, however, can be perceived as cold, unemotional and unfriendly sometimes.
Certain shades of blue, especially the dark ones portray coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion and unfriendliness. Dark blue can sometimes seem icy, distant, or even cold.
Blue can be used with other emotions stirring colors to create a powerful impact and send a strong message. Graphic designers and artists have been using shades of blue to illustrate emotions and feelings, convey meaningful information.
Blue Personality :
Blue personality refers to people with their “True Color” as blue.
(True Colors® is a model for understanding people based on their personality temperament. The colors of Orange, Gold, Green, and Blue are used to differentiate the four central True Colors® personality styles)
So basically, people who like blue or with blue personality are supposed to be conservative, reliable and trustworthy. They are driven by intimacy and quality relationships.
They are usually aware of their doings and think before they act. Sincerity and genuineness is their forte. They are confident, empathetic, caring, honest, resilient and intuitive.
On the negative side, they can be moody at times and may overreact to situations. Since intimacy drives them, they get over emotional at situations. They are known to be over cautious at times leading to over thinking and procrastination.
A brief history of Blue
Most of the scientists generally agree that humans began to see blue color when they started making blue pigments. Cave paintings back from history lack blue color suggesting that there was no trace of blue as a color then.
Humans actually started to develop blue colorants some 6000 years ago! Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, a deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone (that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color)mined in Afghanistan, became very popular among the Egyptians. They adored the bright blue color of this mineral.
They performed chemical reactions with the rare lapis with other ingredients, such as calcium and limestone, and generated other saturated blue pigments.
Gradually the Egyptians started to spread their blue dyes throughout the world. It also became popular among high-class Persians, Mesoamericans and Romans soon followed The dyes were expensive then, so only royalty could afford them. Thus, blue remained rare and confined for many centuries.
Conclusion
Exploring the psychology of colors is undoubtedly very interesting. But it is also important to remember that reactions to color can also be extremely personal. Experiences from the past, stories, and news can have a significant impact on people about how they feel and respond to different colors. While most of the people find blue as peaceful or inspiring some might find it as sad or somber color.