Stop Seeing Red, Start Seeing Pink: Colour and Your Environment
This piece first appeared in my email newsletter on July 13, 2020. If you’d like to receive pieces like this weeks before I publish them, as well as book recommendations and my latest updates, sign up here. If you’re into human behaviour, psychology, philosophy and the millennial experience, I’d love you to join me.
I'm one of those 'messy but pretends they're not' kind of people.
I like to think my office desk is always tidy. In reality, though, every few days it ends up looking like a used bookstore vomited everywhere. And even though I can pretend this set-up is convenient (maybe for osmosis?) it always ends up making me feel a bit twitchy.
Our brains are pretty sensitive to our environment. Often, small things can have a significant impact on our mood, motivation and behaviour.
It's been theorised that red and yellow are signalling colours to humans. They get our attention, which may be why we see them often on fast food logos. I recall reading one theory that suggested the reason red and yellow are so attention-grabbing is because they are commonly utilised in the animal kingdom to signal danger (e.g. on a poisonous snake, spider or wasp's stinger) or sexual receptivity (commonly seen, for example, in female non-human primates, who often exhibit red on their face, chest or genitals).
Red can even affect our perception of romantic prospects. In one study in 2008, men found women more sexually attractive when their photo had a red background compared to other colours, and another in 2010 suggested that men found women in a red shirt more attractive and sexually receptive than women in white. Studies consistently show us this “red effect” influencing perceptions of women from romantic prospects.
And yet, studies also suggest that the colour red as a presence in our environment is a bit of an ass. One study found that when participants were in a room bathed in red lighting, they became more anxious, with increased heart rate and blood pressure compared to those who had blue or white lighting[1]. Red has been found to disturb our bodies and minds – from writing less intelligibly when using red pens, to getting more frustrated while waiting for a red or yellow site to load than a blue one[2]. (This reminds me of those lava lamps we all had in the 90’s – why did we have those?)
Is this also the case for pink, red’s softer sibling? Perhaps not, when we consider "Drunk Tank Pink". Drunk Tank Pink is a particular shade of pink which, it was discovered, when painted on the walls seemed to make navy prisoners calmer and children in classrooms more well-behaved. It had a calming effect, as opposed to red's agitating one.
So, it seems, what we have around us can affect our behaviour and mind. Perhaps, if you have bright red walls in your office, it's time to redecorate.
But it’s not only colour that can affect us. Clutter around us can clutter up our brains, too.
In fact, one study found that having clutter in your living space is a big predictor of procrastination, discovering that “chronic procrastinators reported too much clutter (possessions, or stuff), and that clutter interferes with a strong quality of their lives.” While there’s quite a lot of research demonstrating that clutter at home can stress us out, a recent 2020 paper also found that office-clutter can positively predict “a person’s level of emotional exhaustion and stress”.
So, as it turns out, Mari Kondo is not only an incredibly smart businesswoman – she’s also promoting science-backed wellbeing and productivity.
If we’re redesigning our work and home environments to minimise clutter and be conscious of the colours we’re surrounding ourselves with, we can set ourselves up for higher productivity and mental clarity. In 2020, a time of heightened stress and uncertainty for all of us, the small steps of clearing your desk and creating a positive environment around you are achievable and can make a positive difference to your mind.
(Oh, and you might want to get a plant, because having one in an office has been found to increase productivity and boost self-esteem and mood. My cactus Neville just passed so it’s time for me to do that too.)
[1] James, W. T., and Domingos, W. R. (1953). The effect of colour shock on motor performance and tremor. Journal of General Psychology, 48, 187-193.
Gerard, R. M. (1958) Colour and emotional arousal. American Psychologist, 13, 340.
[2] Alter, A. (2013) Drunk tank pink. One world publishing. Print.