Gender Differences Regarding the Perception and Interpretation of Color

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Fordham, Madeline
Area of Honors:
Psychological and Social Sciences
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Julie Liebman, Thesis Supervisor
David Ruth, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Color Psychology
Color and Gender
Multilingual Differences
Language Differences
Abstract:
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, humans have grappled to understand what color is and what it means for our lives. However, in the last few decades, color research has become more advanced, with much of the effort and focus involving the study of color and emotion. A study was conducted with 39 participants from Penn State Abington to test certain theories. This study specifically looked at the connection between gender and the interpretation of color. Participants took a survey that measured their interpretation of femininity and masculinity, the number of words they chose to associate with a specific color, and whether those words were more abstract or concrete. While women on average were able to use more words, especially abstract words for all colors, the difference was not enough to be statistically significant. However, the study did indicate a significantly high word association with blue and a significantly low word association with purple; this was concurrent with both genders. One of the variables that indicated the highest level of word association was not gender-based but instead language-based. Multilinguals on average were able to list significantly more words per color, including colors with generally low-word association, like pink and purple. This unanticipated result invites further examination of this interesting correlation.