Effects of environmental colours in virtual reality: Physiological arousal affected by lightness and hue

Abstract

It is a popular belief that colours impact one's psychological and affective functioning. However, clear-cut scientific evidence is still lacking, largely due to methodological challenges. Virtual reality (VR) enabled us to control and modify the environment. We exposed 60 participants to red or blue environments varying in lightness and saturation. We assessed participants' physiological responses (i.e. arousal) with heart rate and skin conductance measures, and their self-reported levels of valence and arousal in response to the coloured environments. The results revealed physiological effects of lightness and hue. When compared with the baseline measures, heart rate increased, and heart rate variability decreased more in the dark than the medium lightness rooms. Both measures signalled higher arousal in the darker room, irrespective of hue. Also, when compared with the baseline measures, skin conductance increased more in the red than the blue rooms, again signalling higher arousal in the red condition. The difference between the red and the blue conditions was detectable only on some saturation and lightness combinations. We conclude that being immersed in environments of different colours can change physiological arousal. However, not all changes are driven by hue and not all the effects are measurable on all physiological parameters.

A comparative analysis of colour–emotion associations in 16–88‐year‐old adults from 31 countries

“…Future studies are needed to bridge the gap between abstract colour-emotion associations and felt emotions, important when making colour choices for applied purposes, such as hospitals or elderly homes. For that, one must assess felt emotions, which can be challenging to achieve (Kaiser, 1984;Weijs et al, 2023). Italy and was not involved in colour term translation into Chinese and Russian.…”

“…It remains to be seen whether and in which circumstances such widely shared colour-emotion associations directly impact human emotions and psychological functioning. It is problematic to simply assume that looking at colours associated with positive emotions would also induce a positive affective experience, and vice versa (see (Kaiser, 1984;Weijs et al, 2023;Wilms & Oberfeld, 2018). Applied experimental studies are needed to provide empirical evidence that allows translation into practice.…”

Lithuanian Conceptual Colour–Emotion Associations in the Global Context of 37 Nations

“…A priori, such research tells little about felt emotions. More studies, using different experimental designs, are necessary to understand whether colour can impact felt emotions, and if so, whether such impact goes in line with the conceptual colour-emotion associations (e.g., see Weijs et al, 2023;Wilms & Oberfeld, 2018). Likewise, the current study did not deal with colour preferences (i.e., liking or disliking specific colours (Palmer & Schloss, 2010;Pranckevičienė et al, 2009;Stanikūnas et al, 2020)).…”

Effects of color cues on eye-hand coordination training with a mirror drawing task in virtual environment

“…The interplay between color and motor skills is complex and includes psychological and environmental factors. Environmental colors can influence arousal and attention, with bright hues fostering alertness and quicker motor responses, while softer tones may promote focus and control in precision tasks (Weijs et al, 2023 ). In addition, color-coded systems, widely used in offices and industrial settings, enhance organization and coordination, helping to provide efficient motor responses (Rondinelli and Vastag, 2000 ).…”