The article explores why blue is often considered the most popular color worldwide. The author cites a 1983 survey by a crayon manufacturer, which found that children preferred blue, with four different shades of blue in the top 10 list. A repeat of the survey seven years later yielded similar results, with six different shades of blue in the top 10. The author notes that this preference persists across cultures, citing a survey of 8,898 people from hundreds of countries, where blue was the favorite color of over 2,000 people.
The article also explores why people's favorite colors tend to change as they grow older, with children often preferring bright colors like orange, yellow, and pink, which are associated with positive emotions. As people enter adulthood, their color preferences tend to converge towards blue.
The author references the "ecological valence theory" proposed by Karen Schloss, which suggests that color preferences are influenced by personal experiences and associations. The article also notes that the least popular color is often brown, which may be due to its association with negative experiences like rotting food or spoiled fruit and vegetables.
The author develops their own theory based on Goethe's writings, suggesting that the ubiquity of blue in the natural world, from the sky to oceans, may contribute to its popularity as a favorite color. The article concludes that the Earth itself is often referred to as the Blue Planet, and that the color blue is a common thread throughout human experience.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. A crayon manufacturer conducted a survey in 1983 to determine children's favorite crayon colors.
2. The majority of children in the survey chose blue as their favorite color.
3. The same manufacturer repeated the survey seven years later and found that blue was still the most popular color.
4. A researcher, Lauren Labrecque, has found that blue is consistently the most popular color in surveys of favorite colors.
5. Labrecque has a presentation that shows the results of her surveys, which often feature blue as the most popular color.
6. A study of 330 children aged 4-11 found that they tend to use their favorite colors when drawing a good character.
7. Children's color preferences can be influenced by social pressures, such as the tendency for girls to have pink in their clothes and toys.
8. Boys are often dressed in blue.
9. A survey conducted by YouGov in ten countries found that blue is a popular color in many countries, including England, Germany, and the United States.
10. A survey of over 8,000 people from hundreds of countries found that blue was the favorite color of over 2,000 people.
11. Brown is often the least popular color in surveys.
12. A study by Karen Schloss and her team found that people's color preferences can be influenced by their personal experiences and associations with certain colors.
13. The ecological valence theory suggests that people form judgments about colors based on their personal experiences and the meanings they assign to them.
14. Goethe wrote a book on color theory in the 19th century.
15. The sky and oceans are often blue, and this may contribute to blue being a popular color.
16. The color of the sky is blue due to the scattering of blue wavelengths in the white light hitting air molecules.
17. The oceans appear blue due to the absorption of certain wavelengths of light by water.