There is much more to color than meets the eye. Strangely enough， humans have a close emotional bond with the visible light aspect of the electromagnetic spectrum， a bond so strong that it can easily make us feel stressed out with a raised heart rate or leave us with a warm and fuzzy sense of satisfaction.

If you’re looking to cool your jets and relax， one of the most calming colors to be surrounded by， according to a global survey is navy blue， closely followed by teal-like turquoise， and soft pastel pink.

The World’s Favorite Color Project involved 26，596 participants from over 100 different countries， possibly the largest ever color study， to get some insights into the world’s most beloved color. To do this， they asked the participants to list attributes and emotions that they associate with certain colors in the hopes of also finding out what different hues mean to different people， and what may influence this.

“Many studies have investigated the link between color and emotion. Although not all of these studies agree， some consistent results can be extracted from the literature，” Professor Anna Franklin， a leading expert in color psychology wrote in a blog post about the project.

色彩，遠(yuǎn)不只我們眼睛看上去的那么簡(jiǎn)單。奇怪的是，人類與這些電磁波譜上的可見(jiàn)光，竟有著緊密的情感聯(lián)系，這種聯(lián)系如此強(qiáng)烈，以至于它很容易讓我們因心率加快而感到壓力，又或者讓我們有一種溫暖而模糊的滿足感。

根據(jù)一項(xiàng)全球調(diào)查，如果你想冷靜放松下來(lái)，海軍藍(lán)是最好的選擇，緊隨其后的是藍(lán)綠色和柔粉色。

一次“世界上最受歡迎的顏色”的實(shí)驗(yàn)，研究對(duì)象涉及100多個(gè)國(guó)家的26 596名參與者，目的是了解最受人們喜愛(ài)的顏色。這可能是有史以來(lái)規(guī)模最大的關(guān)于顏色的研究了。為了達(dá)到實(shí)驗(yàn)?zāi)康模M織設(shè)計(jì)者們讓參與者列出特定顏色相關(guān)的屬性和代表情緒，既希望找出不同的顏色對(duì)不同的人意味著什么，也希望弄明白這其中有哪些影響因素。

色彩心理學(xué)領(lǐng)域的權(quán)威專家安娜·富蘭克林教授在一篇關(guān)于此項(xiàng)目的博客文章中寫道：“許多研究都調(diào)查了顏色和情緒之間的聯(lián)系。雖然它們并非都得出了相同的結(jié)論，但從論文中也能找到一些共同點(diǎn)。”

“First， the more saturated the color is， the more it is associated with excitement and stimulation，” Franklin explained. “Second， the lighter the color is， the more it is associated with calmness and relaxation. Many studies have found that blue and green are also associated with calmness and relaxation （fewer studies find no association）.”

The findings also showed that orange is most often associated with happiness， while pink is viewed as the sexiest， and the colors people around the world most associated with luxury are white， purple， and orange.

In case you were curious， most people’s favorite color appears to be green or blue， although there was a lot of variety in the results. According to the ecological valence theory （just one of a handful of color preference theories）， humans appear to be fond of these colors because they’re associated with environmental features we can benefit from and enjoy， such as clear skies， clean water， and vegetation. That also explains why we tend not to like murky brown colors， as we link them to dirty water， and disease.

However， while certain colors seem to embody a universal characteristic—for example， red equates to anger—it’s worth remembering some interpretations of color can vary hugely between groups.

富蘭克林解釋說(shuō)：“首先，顏色越飽滿，它就越能讓人感到興奮和刺激;其次，顏色越淺，就越能讓人感到冷靜和放松。許多研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，藍(lán)色和綠色也與冷靜和放松聯(lián)系在一起（這一點(diǎn)，很少會(huì)有研究否認(rèn)）?！?/p>

研究結(jié)果還表明，橙色通常與幸福感有關(guān)，而粉紅色則是性感的代名詞。全世界人們最常與奢侈品聯(lián)系在一起的顏色是白色、紫色和橙色。

不妨告訴你，即使人各有好，但大多數(shù)人最喜歡的顏色還是綠色或藍(lán)色。根據(jù)生態(tài)效價(jià)理論（為數(shù)不多的“顏色偏好理論”之一），人類之所以喜歡這些顏色，是因?yàn)樗鼈兣c某些環(huán)境特征有關(guān)，而我們既能享受這些環(huán)境特征，更能從其中獲益，例如晴朗的天空、干凈的水流、翠綠的植被。這也解釋了為什么我們不喜歡暗褐色，因?yàn)樗鼈兛傋屛覀兿肫鹋K水和疾病。

然而，盡管某些顏色的確已被賦予了普遍的意義——就好比我們提到紅色就會(huì)聯(lián)想到憤怒——但我們還是要記住，不同群體對(duì)顏色的釋義，可能存在巨大的差異。

Word Study

spectrum /'spektr?m/ n.? 聲譜;波譜;頻譜

attribute /?'tr?bju?t/ n. 屬性;性質(zhì);特征

Patience is one of the most important attributes in a teacher.

extract /'ekstr?kt/ v.? 選取;摘錄;選錄

This article is extracted from his new book.

embody /?m'b?di/ v.? 具體表現(xiàn)，體現(xiàn)，代表（思想或品質(zhì)）

interpretation /?n't??pr?'te??n/ n.? 理解;解釋;說(shuō)明

Her evidence suggests a different interpretation of the events.