Short Stuff: Color Psychology | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. >> Hey and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh. and there's Chuck and uh Jerry's here. and I just realized that I open this. like a regular episode, but it's not. because Jerry's not really here. She's. here for Dave who's possessed Jerry. which makes this a short stuff. >> That's right. Uh and we are talking. about color psychology today. You put. this one together. and I think it's a pretty good one. because you know, it it seems sort of.

obvious to say that people have. reactions to color. uh and it is, but there's there's a lot. more that goes into it um. beyond just like seeing a color and. having a feeling like where you were. raised, what kind of culture you were. raised in, maybe how old you are, maybe. how you're feeling at the time uh. specific experiences with that kind of. color. And there's a field that studies. this called color psychology. >> Yeah. Um. so it's an interesting field in that the.

it's very quickly figured out there's no. universality. to color psychology because of all of. those factors that you just mentioned. Um it's a very personal response, but. the fact that people do have emotional. um and psychological responses to color. which means that it's just totally. symbolic um to them. That that is worth. investigating and diving into. And then. also there are some broad strokes. especially when you're talking about a.

large culture, a bunch of uh societies. that form an even bigger culture um that. you can manipulate to sell things to. those people if you want to using color. as a marketer advertiser. >> Yeah, I mean a lot of thought like. beyond just your own home or whatever. how how you want to paint your room. uh which by the way, we're going to. color drench our bedroom soon. Have you. heard of this? >> Uh no. >> Color drenching is when you paint. everything in there. >> Oh, neat. >> the same color. Like ceiling, trim,

doors, everything. >> What about like in lamps and stuff, too? Or just the stuff that's fastened down? >> No, no, no. Just like walls, ceiling, trim, doors. Every Everything you would. normally paint. You paint it all one. color and it's it sounds impressive, but. it's really kind of awesome and it seems. like a a trend. >> That sounds really cool. Are you doing. it in matte? It seems like a matte would. be best for something like that. >> Yeah, probably matte. Uh maybe. semi-gloss, but it'll be um. I think it'll really cozy up our. bedroom, which we're looking to do, you. know. >> That's cool, man. Do you know what color.

you're going to get? >> Probably like a a deep green, something. kind of dark. >> Okay. I I used to have um back in the. '90s, back when burgundy and dark blue. and. >> Oh, yeah. >> hunter green were all um in fashion, I. put them all together. in my bedroom and it looked knockout. >> Awesome. Yeah. Well, I'll let you know. how it goes. >> Okay. >> I'll just I'll just nudge you in bed and. say, "What do you think?". >> [laughter]. >> Perfect. Uh all right. So, we were talking about. the obvious thing like just painting a.

room or something, but you know, a lot. of thought goes into color design for. logos and like the lobby of the big. corporation or what kind of color the. the. nurse's uniform should be or the kids'. hospital room should be. Like, that's. all color psychology. >> For sure. Um there's also color symbolism, too, where your culture basically says, "Hey, um we believe wearing black is a sign of. mourning." Like, if you're in mourning, wear black. If you go to another.

culture, typically in the East, they'll. say, "No, you wear white when you're in. mourning." Right? So, there's not an. inherent meaning or symbolism in colors. It's all what one culture decides um. that color means. Like, another good. example is associating luck with green. And you can actually trace that back to. Ireland being considered the Emerald. Isle and leprechauns being associated. with luck. So through a bunch of. cultural convolutions, the West.

associates green with good luck, right? That you would not find that in other. other cultures, right? So there is like. a a real culturally bound aspect to it, but like you said before, it gets even. more gradiated to where. if you were chased by a bear in the. woods as a kid, you're probably not. going to like the color green very much. or you're not going to like brown. because that's remind you the color of. the grizzly bear. Whereas somebody else. would be like, um, I was raised on a. farm and everything was brown and I.

loved it. So I love the color brown. It. gets like that detailed and that. granular. Um, the upshot of the whole thing is is that. colors can affect us and that in and of. itself you just it's so. we just know that, but if you step back. and actually think about what's going. on, it's actually kind of mind-blowing, especially in the ways that affect. >> us. Yeah, for sure. Um, they have done. cross-cultural studies about, you know, how it is around the world. Uh, they. found that American and Japanese, their. concepts of warm and cold colors are.

about the same. Uh, but in Japan blue. and green are uh, perceived as good and. red, purple, orange are perceived as. bad. Where in the United States red, yellow, green is considered good and. orange and red and purple bad. Yeah, and. one thing I wanted to mention about the. the morning colors is uh, we have a uh, an African-American church right around. the block from us and they have had. their fair share of funerals over the. years. And a lot of these I've seen. everybody wearing purple.

and I've wondered if that was uh, a. thing in the black community or if it. was just something particular to to the. person, like that was their favorite. color. >> I don't know, but I do know that purple. and gold and white and black are all. depending on the culture um, appropriate. mourning wear. >> Yeah, I'm curious. I mean, I hope. someone could write in and tell me cuz I. never feel like I can just walk up to. the gathering and say like, "Hey, is was. was this person into purple or what's. the deal?". >> Yeah. >> Not the right time. >> I'm sorry for your loss, but I just have.

to ask you. >> Yeah. >> Um, you want to take a break and, uh, come back and talk about the Crayola. eight-pack of colors? >> Let's do it. >> [music]. [music].

[music]. >> All right, Josh, uh, promised now that. we're back to talk about the Crayola. eight, but as we do on Stuff You Should. Know, we're not going to talk about all. eight. >> Yeah. >> We're just going to hit some highlights. of those main colors and kind of talk a. little bit about what, uh, most people. feel. Uh, I'll go ahead and start with. red. I think we should talk about red. because that's the color that kind of. has the the strongest reaction, uh, usually out of people cuz red is just a.

very big, bold, brave choice in a lot of. cases. Uh, they say if you have a red car, you're going to get pulled over more. often by cops. Uh, they report feelings. of strength when you wear red or courage. or aggression. Uh, it can actually increase your heart. rate and energy level. Uh, and obviously. red is why, you know, you paint, um, stop signs red. Uh, it's cuz it's a real. eye grabber or, um, a warning label is. red because it'll catch your eye. >> Right. Um, and, uh, another one,

I it depends on the shade, um, or I guess the saturation or value. >> Ooh. >> Um, but I like orange sometimes. Apparently, a lot of people can't stand. orange and I get that cuz there are. colors that I can't stand. >> Like like what? >> I I really don't like magenta. >> What's magenta? Is that like a purple? >> Yeah, it's like a reddish purple like. like red ish purple. >> What's your favorite color? >> Um blue often like a robin's egg blue.

but also I like um. royal blue is kind of nice um dark blue. the bluer blues rather than the darker. blues I usually kind of lean toward but. um yeah. I also like pastels. >> Oh yeah sure. You you've got your a nice. stable of like pastel sweatshirts and. things. >> I do. >> [laughter]. >> Uh I tend to depend on the season. I. really. you know kind of obviously love like. burnt oranges and browns and and sort of.

forest greens in the fall and winter. Uh and I brighten up a bit but I I. definitely love greens and browns and. uh hues of orange the most I think. >> I see. >> Yeah but which one are you talking. about? Yellow? No, orange. >> Well, we just kind of finished orange. I. mean it's just all over the place. I. think there's just so many different. weird associations. This list says. flamboyance, energy, comfort, warmth. I. mean you can't really put four different. things that are less associated with one. another together.

>> Yeah, for sure. Um I I do like black. I. like wearing black things always have. Uh black is beautiful. Uh black is. powerful. Uh authoritativeness comes to mind. obviously like strength. Um it can be overwhelming for a lot of. people like usually painting walls black. is I mean that's a that's a big choice. I've got a couple of black black walls. in my house like my office. I have a I. have one wall that's black. >> So like um but there are many shades. within the black like when you go to. pick out paint colors. Black is not just. black. Um and obviously you know in like.

westerns the black hat symbolized good. the white hat symbolized uh. uh like the you know the bad guy and the. good guy. >> And in hacking, too. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah, it's true. Like there's black hat. hackers and white hat hackers. >> Yeah. >> I we have to at least talk about yellow. >> Yeah, let's do it. >> This to me is like I think it's the most. all over. color cuz people like yellow, but it's. associated with so many different. things. Like we we call. people who are cowards, they're called.

yellow, especially if you're an. old-timey person. There's also like this idea that you. might cry longer in a yellow room, which. I cannot find anything to actually back. that up. It's almost just become. legendary. But I guarantee there's some study that. said that at some point. But it's also. considered very cheerful, right? I mean, yellow's like the color of the smiley. face and the sun and it's it's just it. depends on again, not just like your.

experiences with yellow or what your. culture says yellow is, but your mood. that day. Even more important though, is there's. not just one yellow. Like you talked. about how there's all these different. shades of black. >> Yeah. >> All the colors have different. saturations. It's how colorful they are. Their value, the brightness, the hues. are the actual different colors. Like. all of these things, like. a pale cream pastel yellow is going to. make you feel differently than a neon.

yellow is. The neon yellow is going to. make you run out and buy a mountain dew. The pastel [laughter]. creamy yellow is going to make you want. to sit down and have tea. >> Yeah, agreed. Uh I got I mean, I think the rest of. these people. people can go do more color research if. they're if they're planning their. wardrobe or they're painting their house. or something. >> Yes. >> Uh my advice is to you know, you got to. get those small little tester sizes and. just throw a little on the wall and see. what you think. And And look at it in a.

bunch of different light, regular. daylight. >> Mhm. >> Uh cuz that that really can change the. the hue of a color is what kind of light. you're using. >> Flashlight, your power may go out at. some point. You want to make sure it. looks good in that, too. >> Yeah, for for sure. >> Uh you got anything else then? >> I got nothing else. >> All right, everybody. Short Stuff is. out. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from. iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. listen [music] to your favorite shows.