COLOR RECOGNITION, COLOR PREFERENCES AND COLOR CHOICES FOR COMPLETING EMOTIONALLY CHARACTERIZED DRAWINGS IN CHILDHOOD

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1 COLOR RECOGNITION, COLOR PREFERENCES AND COLOR CHOICES FOR COMPLETING EMOTIONALLY CHARACTERIZED DRAWINGS IN CHILDHOOD Kristina Žardeckaitė Matulaitienė, Aistė Pranckevičienė Vytautas Magnus University, Department of General Psychology Tel , The aim of this project is to analyze children color recognition, color preferences and color choices in emotionally characterized drawings from early childhood to primary school children (648 boys and 659 girls) from mainstream schools of Kaunas region and 95 children (54 boys and 38 girls) from Kaunas kinder garden participated in color preference, mood rating and drawing sessions. Age of participants ranged from 2 years 3 months and 12 years 3 months. All children rated the set of 11 pencils (from the most liked to the most disliked color) and completed three drawings of differently characterized human figures: a neutral, a nice, and a nasty. The results of the study revealed that color recognition develops with age in early childhood: more 5-7 years old children recognize all colors then 2-4 years old ones. More than 60% of children in 2-4 years old group recognized green, red, yellow and black. While all children in 5-7 years old group recognized black, red and orange colors. Some gender differences in color preferences also were found. Both genders preferred bright colors: girls pink, yellow, and boys red, sky blue. The most liked colors for both genders were bright; the most disliked color for both genders was black. However some age differences were observed. Interestingly color choices in early childhood were less related to gender stereotypes than in primary school. The results of the study indicate that children use of specific colors when completing nice and nasty figures in early childhood only starts to develop. The relationship between nasty figure and black color begins firstly, but relationships among positively characterized figures and bright colors still remain shady. In primary school these relationships become more differentiated: the strongest relationship is observed between nice figure and yellow color and nasty figure and black color. However results also indicate that choice of the color is related to child s color preference. Although the results of the study confirm general association between characteristics of the topic being drawn and colors, observed gender differences and importance of color preference indicate that color interpretations during child s psychological assessment should be done with caution. The implications for further research are discussed. Key words: color preference, color choice, early childhood, gender differences. Introduction It is well known that people prefer different colors and react differently to particular colors in different emotional states (Kaya, Epps, 2004; Withrow, 2004). It is believed that colors might be important indicators of emotional status or personality traits. The use of colors is important evaluation criteria in psychological assessment, especially in projective methods. This type of tests and various drawing methods are widely used as children psychological assessment tools, besides the interview (information) with child s tutors. Research shows that color preferences are important indicators of child s emotional state and can demonstrate his or her feelings towards the drawing object (Boyatzis, Varghese, 1993; Burkitt, Newell, 2005). However, most claims of the found emotional significance of the children s drawings are based on professional observation usually within clinical contexts (Burkitt et al, 2004). So there is a lack of controlled research where systematic validation of the children feelings towards the colors used and towards the topic drawn would be taken into account. When talking about interpretation of child color choices, some developmental, cultural and gender issues should be discussed. Color identification abilities develop during the childhood. Some researchers found that till the age of 6 child usually is able to identify 4 basic colors (Roberson et al, 2006), however others found that children in 2-3 grades do not differ from adults in their color usage for differently characterized drawings (Cimbalo et al, 1979). Color symbolism is not universal and develops through experience (Elliott, Maier, 2007; Boyatzis, Varghese, 1993) it could be related to child s environment, stereotypes, and his own individual experience. There are some gender and age differences found in children color use in the drawings: girls use more colors than boys (Bilgin, Isler, 2008; Ames, Metraux and Walker, 1971 cited by Burkitt et al, 2003), younger children use more colors and the number of colors decreases as they get older (Bilgin, Isler, 2008). It would be important to evaluate these genders and age differences in color preference and use in primary school. Children s color preference usually reflects gender stereotypes (Zentner, 2001), because colors are carrying gender-related information (e.g. pink is for girls, blue is for boys ). It is possible that as a 180

2 consequence of early gender socialization boys and girls have different color preferences: girls prefer brighter colors (pink, yellow), boys darker ones (blue, green)). Culture influence in color symbolism and gender stereotypes also is important (Kaya, Epps, 2004) (e.g. black color in Japan is related to wellness, wealth, power, while in Western countries it is associated with death, funeral). Even Western countries vary on various dimensions of cultural values (individualismcollectivism or masculinity-femininity). Little is known about children s color preferences in Lithuania. Research made by Burkitt and colleagues (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007) revealed general tendency that children choose and use colors systematically while coloring positive and negative characterized figures of the man or other objects. But it could not be asserted that particular color associates with specific emotion or mood. The aim of this survey is to analyze children color recognition, color preferences and color choices in emotionally characterized drawings from early childhood to primary school. Procedure This study was conducted in two waves: in spring 2007 in Kaunas region s mainstream schools and in winter 2008 in one Kaunas city kindergarten. It was based on collaboration agreements among Psychology Departments at Vytautas Magnus University and Kaunas region secondary schools and Kaunas kindergarten. The survey was carried out by psychology bachelor students specially prepared for this research children of 1 through 4 grades (49,6%) boys and 659 (50,4%) girls and 95 children (54 boys and 38 girls) from kindergarten participated in this study. Age range of the subjects was: from 2 years 3 month till 12 years 3 months (mean age 8 years 8 months). Procedure of our study was based on the procedures used in Burkitt et al research (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007) with modifications for the survey in small groups of children (5-6 pupils). Survey was carried out in the classroom. Every child was surveyed following the procedure composed from the several stages: 1) situational affect of every child using a five-point smiley-face Likert scale was evaluated firstly; 2) every child rated 11 colored (blue, green, red, yellow, violet, brown, black, pink, sky blue, spring green and orange) pencils starting from the most liked color pencil and finishing with least liked color pencil; 3) all children completed 3 drawings of differently characterized human figures: a neutral, a nice, and a nasty; 4) children from kindergarten were asked additionally to name the colors of the pencils before the standard procedure. Results In order to investigate how color recognition abilities develop in early childhood comparison of 2-4 years and 5-7 years old children was made. The results of cross-tabulation analyses could be seen in Table 1. Table 1. Comparison of color recognition by 2-4 and 5-7 years old children, n(%) Color 2-4 years old group 5-7 years old group Percent of correct color recognition Boys, n=29 Girls, n=21 Boys, n=25 Girls, n=17 Blue 12 (41.4 ) 10 (47.6) 18 (72.0) 15 (88.2) Green 21 (72.4 ) 16 (76.2) 23 (92.0) 17 (100) Red 18 (62.1) 15 (71.4) 25 (100) 17 (100) Yellow 19 (65.5) 13 (61.9) 24 (96.0) 17 (100) Violet 6 (20.7) 8 (38.1) 14 (56.0) 14 (82.4) Brown 15 (51.7) 11 (52.4) 22 (88.0) 17 (100) Black 16 (55.2) 14 (66.7) 25 (100) 17 (100) Pink 9 (31.0) 10 (47.6) 17 (68.0) 16 (94.) Sky blue 0 (0) 2 (9.5) 8 (32.0) 6 (35.3) Spring green 0 (0) 1 (4.8) 9 (36.0) 3 (17.6) Orange 16 (55.2) 12 (57.1) 25 (100) 17 (100) It could be seen, that more 5-7 years old children recognize all colors then 2-4 years old ones (all differences are statistically significant for both genders, except for green color p< 0.1). More than 60 % of children in 2-4 years old group recognized green, red, yellow and black. While all children in 5-7 years old group recognized black, red and orange colors. In order to evaluate gender differences in color preferences for the most liked and the most disliked colors a series of cross-tabulation analyses were conducted. Comparison of every color preferred as the 181

3 most-liked and the most-disliked was made in the groups of children from kindergarten and primary school. Three most liked and most disliked colors in these groups could be seen in Table 2. Table 2. Comparison of the most liked and most disliked colors in kindergarten and primary school, % The most liked colors Red 22.2 Sky blue 21.3 Pink 34.2 Pink 31.3 Sky blue 16.7 Red 19.0 Yellow 23.7 Sky blue 18.1 Yellow and pink 13 Spring green 11 Red 18.4 Spring green 13.5 The most disliked colors Blue 20.4 Black 29.9 Black 34.2 Black 57.7 Black 18.5 Pink 22.4 Brown 18.4 Brown 11.8 Sky blue 11.1 Brown 9.9 Blue and green 13.2 Violet 5.2 It was found that the most-liked colors for boys both in kindergarten and primary school were sky blue and red, for girls pink. Interestingly, in boys group pink was quite popular in kindergarten, but number of pupils chosen this color in primary school decrease significantly (Fisher s exact test, p<0.031). In girls group statistically significant changes in most liked colors from kindergarten to primary school are related to decrease of yellow (Fisher s exact test, p<0.008) and increase of spring green (Fisher s exact test, p<0.048) colors. The most-disliked color for boys and for girls is black, except boys group from kindergarten (blue is the most disliked color), and this tendency of black-disliked color is increasing with age significantly. Some other changes of most-disliked colors are related to gender pink significantly more was chosen as the most-disliked color in primary school boys group (χ 2 =12.748, df=1, p=0.000). Also selection of bright colors (sky blue, blue and green) as most-disliked reduces in primary school. In order to assess whether boys and girls in kindergarten and primary school use different colors for the differently characterized drawings, a series of cross-tabulation analyses were conducted. The two of the most frequently used colors for the nice and for the nasty figure are presented in the Table 3. Table 3. Color preferences for the nice and the nasty figure, % Color preference for the nice figure Kindergarten, n=54 Primary school (n=648) Kindergarten (n=38) Primary school (n=659) Red 18.5 Yellow (26.4 %) Red (28.9 %) Yellow (35.8 %) Pink 14.8 Red (15.9 %) Yellow (13.2 %) Pink (15.6 %) Color preference for the nasty figure Kindergarten, n=54 Primary school n=648 Kindergarten, n=38 Primary school, n=659 Black 42.6 Black 63.6 Black 31.6 Black 66.2 Violet 13.0 Brown 9.3 Spring green 13.2 Brown 9.9 A cross-tabulation for the nice figure showed that both genders in kindergarten prefer color in nice figure with red, in primary school with yellow. Yellow color preference increases with age for both genders (for boys χ 2 =4.747, df=1, p<0.029; for girls χ 2 =8.151, df=1, p<0.004). A cross-tabulation for nasty figure showed that both genders prefer black color in completing nasty figure and this tendency increases with age (for boys χ 2 =9.316, df=1, p<0.002; for girls χ 2 =18.712, df=1, p=0.000). To explore whether the most-liked color is used for positively characterized figure and the mostdisliked color is used for the negatively characterized figure, comparison of the subjects who choose the most-liked color use for the nice figure; and the most-disliked for the nasty was made in kindergarten and primary school groups. The results are shown in the Table 4. Table 4. Personal color preferences for completing nice and nasty figures, n(%) Usage of the most liked color for completing the nice figure 4 (7.4) 159 (24.5) 5 (13.2) 158 (24.0) Usage of the most disliked color for completing the nasty figure 182

4 3 (5.6) 207 (31.9) 6 (15.8) 303 (46.0) It could be seen that few subjects in the kindergarten use their most-liked color in completing nice drawing; and number of boys using the most-liked color for completing this type of drawing increases significantly in primary school (χ 2 =8.204, df=1, p<0.004). There were no differences found between genders in kindergarten and primary school groups. More girls than boys use their most-disliked color in completing nasty drawing in primary school group (χ 2 =27.045, df=1, p=0.000), but no differences between genders were found in kindergarten. And number of subjects using their most-disliked color for completing the nasty figure is increasing with age for both genders (for boys χ 2 =16.556, df=1, p=0.000; for girls χ 2 =13.268, df=1, p=0.000). Discussion As it was expected the results of the study revealed that color recognition develops with age in early childhood: more children at age 5-7 recognize all colors then children at age 2-4. The most identifiable colors in early childhood are basic and monochromic: green, red, yellow, and black. Our results confirm findings of Roberson et al (2006). Some gender and age differences in color also were found in our study. Even though both genders preferred bright colors and disliked black, but some gender related color stereotypes ( pink=girls ) were observed, especially in primary school. These gender differences in color preferences could be influenced by the gender-related images about colors that are expressed in cultural artifacts (toys, cloths, home accessories) (Zentner, 2001). Our results support earlier findings in that children use colors in relation to the emotional character of the drawing (Burkitt et al, 2003; 2005; 2007; Neto, Paiva, 1998; Zentner, 2001), and these relationships start to develop in early childhood. Black-nasty relationship begins firstly, increases with age and is not related to gender. It might be the case that black is associated with negativity (e.g. funerals). But relationships among positively characterized figure and bright colors are not so clear. In kindergarten red and yellow were the most preferred colors for completion of nice figure, but in primary school yellow became the most popular color for both genders. Red-nice relationship in early childhood could be explained by not formed red color association with blood and war (Adams, Osgood, 1973), while children s association yellow-nice could be culturally determinate: yellow is associated with warmth, kindness and light (especially in fairytales). Some researchers suggest that color choices in children drawings are personally determined (Burkitt, 2004, 2007; Kaya, Epps, 2004). Our results confirmed this idea only partly: both genders used their mostdisliked color in completing the nasty figure and this tendency was increasing with age, but usage of the most-liked color for the nice figure was not declared. In the end some limitations of the study have to be encountered. Study procedure (working in small groups of children) could possible influence the results. This research was conducted as rather unusual, made-up situation for children. It would be interesting to investigate whether these effects of affective characterization would occur in more natural for children drawings (e.g., their own freehand drawings of nice and nasty figures). And, of course, further research is needed to explore possible changes in children color preference and use in a longer period. Conclusions The ability to recognize and identify colors develops with age in early childhood. The colors, that are recognized early, are green, red, yellow and black. Children of both genders chose bright colors as the most-liked, and black color as the most-disliked. The child s choice of the color for the completion of the drawing is related to the emotional character of the drawings (nice-yellow, nasty black), but also might be influenced by personal color preference (the most-disliked color for the nasty). The importance of the child personal color preference shows that interpretation of the children drawings can hardly be universal and requires idiographic approach. References 1. Adams, F., Osgood, C.E. A cross-cultural study of the affective meaning of colour. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 1973, vol. 4, p

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