1. Chelsea D. Carroll & Ashley M. Hall Longwood University

2.   Kaya and Epps (2004) found that colors were associated with more positive emotions when compared to achromatic objects  Positive emotions: yellow, green, white Background Information

3.   Hempshill (1996) found that brighter colors were associated with positive emotions, darker colors were related to more negative mood associations  Women responded more positively to brighter colors than men  Wexner (1954) found that participants paired certain colors and moods together, suggesting that color and mood are associated Background Information

4.   Hypothesis: Brighter colors (i.e. yellow) will elicit more positive emotions; darker colors (i.e. blue) will result in negative moods  Formed from prior research, i.e. Hemsphill (1996)  Rationale:  Previous research has shown conflicting results  Results may lead to practical uses of color Introduction

5.   84 Participants:  Sex:  67 Females  17 Males  Ages 17-24 ( SD = 1.371 )  Class Rank:  40 Freshmen  24 Sophomores  11 Juniors  9 Seniors Demographics

6.   Independent Variable: Color  Levels of the independent variable:  White (Control)  Blue  Yellow  Dependent Variable: Mood measured on a Likert scale  Deceptive Title: “How does Body Language Affect Mood? ” Method

7.  Materials White (Control)YellowBlue

8.  1.I am a happy person. 2.This man’s body positioning shows that he is confident. 3.I do not get depressed easily. 4.This man has motivation. 5.This man enjoys life. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 45 Questionnaire

9.  6. I am optimistic about life. 7. I am content. 8. This man is approachable. 9. This man does not get depressed easily. 10.Please rate your mood. Extremely Depressed Sad Neutral Happy Happy 1 2 3 45

10.  1.I am a happy person. 3.I do not get depressed easily. 6.I am optimistic about life. 7.I am content. 10.Please rate your mood. (1 = Depressed, 5 = Extremely Happy) Target Questions

11.  “I am a happy person.” F (2, 81) = 2.92, p =.06 *

12.  “I am content.” t (82) = 2.10, p =.039

13.  “I am a happy person.” F (3, 80) = 4.99, p =.003 *

14.  “This man enjoys life.” F (3, 80) = 2.78, p =.047 *

15.   Kaya and Epps (2004), found that white produces more positive emotions  Similar to the current study for the question, “I am a happy person.”  Yildirim, Capanoglu, and Hidayetoglu (2011), found positive emotions were produced from warmer colors  Different from the results of the current study Discussion

16.   Michalak, Murray, Wilkinson, Dowrick, and Lam (2007): white light and Seasonal Affective Disorder  According to Carstensen, et al. (2011), emotional well-being increases with age  Tait, Padgett, and Balwin (1989) increase in career opportunities for women led to higher life satisfaction Discussion

17.   Time constraints  Research setting, need for practical settings  Lack of color variation- extend variety of color used  Smaller participant pool Limitations & Directions for Future Research

18.   Color did not affect mood in this current study  Results may vary in different research settings  More research is suggested for this topic Summary

19.  Carstensen, L. L., Turan, B., Scheibe, S., Ram, N., Ersner-Hershfield, H., Samanez-Larkin, G. R., Brooks, K. P., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2011). Emotional experience improves with age: Evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling. Psychology and Aging, 26 (1), 21-33. doi: 10.1037/a0021285 Hempshill, M. (1996). A note on adults’ color-emotion associations. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 57 (1), 275-280. doi: 10.1080/00221325.1996. 9914865 Kaya, N., Epps, H. H. (2004). Relationship between color and emotion: A study of college students. College Student Journal, 38 (3), 396-405. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/ Michalak, E. E., Murray, G., Wilkinson, C., Dowrick, C., & Lam, R. W. (2007). A pilot study of adherence with light treatment for seasonal affective disorder. Psychiatry Research, 149 (1), 315-320. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres. 2006.05.005 Tait, M., Padgett, M. Y., & Balwin, T. T. (1989). Job and life satisfaction: A reevaluation of the strength of the relationship and gender effects as a function of the date of study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74 (3), 502- 507. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.74.3.502 Wexner, L. B. (1954). The degree to which colors (hues) are associated with mood- tones. Journal of Applied Psychology, 38 (6), 432-435. doi: 10.1037h0062181 Yildirim, K., Capanoglu, A. & Hidayetoglu, M. L. (2011). Effects of interior colors on mood and preference: Comparisons of two living rooms. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 112 (2), 509-524. doi: 10.2466/24.27.PMS. 112.2.509-524 References

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