The Sun Is no Fun without Rain: Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries

Domicele Jonauskaite; Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek; Ahmad Abu-Akel; Abdulrahman Saud Al-Rasheed; Jean-Philippe Antonietti; Árni Gunnar Ásgeirsson; Kokou Amenyona Atitsogbe; Marodégueba Barma; Daniel  Barratt; Victoria Bogushevskaya; Maliha Khadidja Bouayed Meziane; Amer Chamseddine; Thammanard Charernboom; Eka Chkonia; Teofil Ciobanu; Violeta Corona; Allison Creed; Nele Dael; Hassan Daouk; Nevena Dimitrova; Cornelis B. Doorenbos; Sergejs Fomins; Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero; Augusta Gaspar; Alena Gizdic; Yulia A. Griber; Gina M. Grimshaw; Aya Ahmed Hasan; Jelena Havelka; Marco Hirnstein; Bodil S. A. Karlsson; Stephen Katembu; Jejoong Kim; Nikos Konstantinou; Eric Laurent; Marjaana Lindeman; Banu Manav; Lynn Marquardt; Philip Mefoh; Aleksandra Mroczko-Wąsowicz; Phillip Mutandwa; Georgette Ngabolo; Daniel Oberfeld; Marietta Papadatou-Pastou; Corinna M. Perchtold; Alicia Pérez-Albéniz; Niloufar Pouyan; Tanjir Rashid Soron; Maya Roinishvili; Lyudmyla Romanyuk; Alejandro Salgado Montejo; Aygun Sultanova; Ramiro Tau; Mari Uuskülabe; Suvi Vainio; Veronica Vargas-Soto; Eliz Volkan; Grażyna Wąsowicz; Sunčica Zdravković; Meng Zhang; Christine Mohr

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350

The Sun Is no Fun without Rain: Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries

Domicele Jonauskaite, Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek, Ahmad Abu-Akel, Abdulrahman Saud Al-Rasheed, Jean-Philippe Antonietti, Árni Gunnar Ásgeirsson, Kokou Amenyona Atitsogbe, Marodégueba Barma, Daniel Barratt, Victoria Bogushevskaya, Maliha Khadidja Bouayed Meziane, Amer Chamseddine, Thammanard Charernboom, Eka Chkonia, Teofil Ciobanu, Violeta Corona, Allison Creed, Nele Dael, Hassan Daouk, Nevena DimitrovaCornelis B. Doorenbos, Sergejs Fomins, Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero, Augusta Gaspar, Alena Gizdic, Yulia A. Griber, Gina M. Grimshaw, Aya Ahmed Hasan, Jelena Havelka, Marco Hirnstein, Bodil S. A. Karlsson, Stephen Katembu, Jejoong Kim, Nikos Konstantinou, Eric Laurent, Marjaana Lindeman, Banu Manav, Lynn Marquardt, Philip Mefoh, Aleksandra Mroczko-Wąsowicz, Phillip Mutandwa, Georgette Ngabolo, Daniel Oberfeld, Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, Corinna M. Perchtold, Alicia Pérez-Albéniz, Niloufar Pouyan, Tanjir Rashid Soron, Maya Roinishvili, Lyudmyla Romanyuk, Alejandro Salgado Montejo, Aygun Sultanova, Ramiro Tau, Mari Uuskülabe, Suvi Vainio, Veronica Vargas-Soto, Eliz Volkan, Grażyna Wąsowicz, Sunčica Zdravković, Meng Zhang, Christine Mohr

Department of Management, Society and Communication

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Across cultures, people associate colours with emotions. Here, we test the hypothesis that one driver of this cross-modal correspondence is the physical environment we live in. We focus on a prime example – the association of yellow with joy, – which conceivably arises because yellow is reminiscent of life-sustaining sunshine and pleasant weather. If so, this association should be especially strong in countries where sunny weather is a rare occurrence. We analysed yellow-joy associations of 6625 participants from 55 countries to investigate how yellow-joy associations varied geographically, climatologically, and seasonally. We assessed the distance to the equator, sunshine, precipitation, and daytime hours. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants who live further away from the equator and in rainier countries are more likely to associate yellow with joy. We did not find associations with seasonal variations. Our findings support a role for the physical environment in shaping the affective meaning of colour.

Original language	English
Article number	101350
Journal	Journal of Environmental Psychology
Volume	66
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0272-4944
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350
Publication status	Published - Dec 2019

Bibliographical note

Published online: 19. September 2019

Keywords

Colour
Emotion
Affect
Cross-cultural
Environment
Climate

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Jonauskaite, D., Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Abu-Akel, A., Al-Rasheed, A. S., Antonietti, J.-P., Ásgeirsson, Á. G., Atitsogbe, K. A., Barma, M., Barratt, D., Bogushevskaya, V., Meziane, M. K. B., Chamseddine, A., Charernboom, T., Chkonia, E., Ciobanu, T., Corona, V., Creed, A., Dael, N., Daouk, H., ... Mohr, C. (2019). The Sun Is no Fun without Rain: Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 66, Article 101350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350

@article{83ec1194c4844878b78957304d421c69,

title = "The Sun Is no Fun without Rain: Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries",

abstract = "Across cultures, people associate colours with emotions. Here, we test the hypothesis that one driver of this cross-modal correspondence is the physical environment we live in. We focus on a prime example – the association of yellow with joy, – which conceivably arises because yellow is reminiscent of life-sustaining sunshine and pleasant weather. If so, this association should be especially strong in countries where sunny weather is a rare occurrence. We analysed yellow-joy associations of 6625 participants from 55 countries to investigate how yellow-joy associations varied geographically, climatologically, and seasonally. We assessed the distance to the equator, sunshine, precipitation, and daytime hours. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants who live further away from the equator and in rainier countries are more likely to associate yellow with joy. We did not find associations with seasonal variations. Our findings support a role for the physical environment in shaping the affective meaning of colour.",

keywords = "Colour, Emotion, Affect, Cross-cultural, Environment, Climate, Colour, Emotion, Affect, Cross-cultural, Environment, Climate",

author = "Domicele Jonauskaite and Abdel-Khalek, {Ahmed M.} and Ahmad Abu-Akel and Al-Rasheed, {Abdulrahman Saud} and Jean-Philippe Antonietti and {\'A}sgeirsson, {{\'A}rni Gunnar} and Atitsogbe, {Kokou Amenyona} and Marod{\'e}gueba Barma and Daniel Barratt and Victoria Bogushevskaya and Meziane, {Maliha Khadidja Bouayed} and Amer Chamseddine and Thammanard Charernboom and Eka Chkonia and Teofil Ciobanu and Violeta Corona and Allison Creed and Nele Dael and Hassan Daouk and Nevena Dimitrova and Doorenbos, {Cornelis B.} and Sergejs Fomins and Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero and Augusta Gaspar and Alena Gizdic and Griber, {Yulia A.} and Grimshaw, {Gina M.} and Hasan, {Aya Ahmed} and Jelena Havelka and Marco Hirnstein and Karlsson, {Bodil S. A.} and Stephen Katembu and Jejoong Kim and Nikos Konstantinou and Eric Laurent and Marjaana Lindeman and Banu Manav and Lynn Marquardt and Philip Mefoh and Aleksandra Mroczko-W{\c a}sowicz and Phillip Mutandwa and Georgette Ngabolo and Daniel Oberfeld and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou and Perchtold, {Corinna M.} and Alicia P{\'e}rez-Alb{\'e}niz and Niloufar Pouyan and Soron, {Tanjir Rashid} and Maya Roinishvili and Lyudmyla Romanyuk and Montejo, {Alejandro Salgado} and Aygun Sultanova and Ramiro Tau and Mari Uusk{\"u}labe and Suvi Vainio and Veronica Vargas-Soto and Eliz Volkan and Gra{\.z}yna W{\c a}sowicz and Sun{\v c}ica Zdravkovi{\'c} and Meng Zhang and Christine Mohr",

note = "Published online: 19. September 2019",

year = "2019",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350",

language = "English",

volume = "66",

journal = "Journal of Environmental Psychology",

issn = "0272-4944",

publisher = "Academic Press",

}

Jonauskaite, D, Abdel-Khalek, AM, Abu-Akel, A, Al-Rasheed, AS, Antonietti, J-P, Ásgeirsson, ÁG, Atitsogbe, KA, Barma, M, Barratt, D, Bogushevskaya, V, Meziane, MKB, Chamseddine, A, Charernboom, T, Chkonia, E, Ciobanu, T, Corona, V, Creed, A, Dael, N, Daouk, H, Dimitrova, N, Doorenbos, CB, Fomins, S, Fonseca-Pedrero, E, Gaspar, A, Gizdic, A, Griber, YA, Grimshaw, GM, Hasan, AA, Havelka, J, Hirnstein, M, Karlsson, BSA, Katembu, S, Kim, J, Konstantinou, N, Laurent, E, Lindeman, M, Manav, B, Marquardt, L, Mefoh, P, Mroczko-Wąsowicz, A, Mutandwa, P, Ngabolo, G, Oberfeld, D, Papadatou-Pastou, M, Perchtold, CM, Pérez-Albéniz, A, Pouyan, N, Soron, TR, Roinishvili, M, Romanyuk, L, Montejo, AS, Sultanova, A, Tau, R, Uuskülabe, M, Vainio, S, Vargas-Soto, V, Volkan, E, Wąsowicz, G, Zdravković, S, Zhang, M & Mohr, C 2019, 'The Sun Is no Fun without Rain: Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries', Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 66, 101350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Sun Is no Fun without Rain

T2 - Physical Environments Affect How We Feel about Yellow across 55 Countries

AU - Jonauskaite, Domicele

AU - Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M.

AU - Abu-Akel, Ahmad

AU - Al-Rasheed, Abdulrahman Saud

AU - Antonietti, Jean-Philippe

AU - Ásgeirsson, Árni Gunnar

AU - Atitsogbe, Kokou Amenyona

AU - Barma, Marodégueba

AU - Barratt, Daniel

AU - Bogushevskaya, Victoria

AU - Meziane, Maliha Khadidja Bouayed

AU - Chamseddine, Amer

AU - Charernboom, Thammanard

AU - Chkonia, Eka

AU - Ciobanu, Teofil

AU - Corona, Violeta

AU - Creed, Allison

AU - Dael, Nele

AU - Daouk, Hassan

AU - Dimitrova, Nevena

AU - Doorenbos, Cornelis B.

AU - Fomins, Sergejs

AU - Fonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo

AU - Gaspar, Augusta

AU - Gizdic, Alena

AU - Griber, Yulia A.

AU - Grimshaw, Gina M.

AU - Hasan, Aya Ahmed

AU - Havelka, Jelena

AU - Hirnstein, Marco

AU - Karlsson, Bodil S. A.

AU - Katembu, Stephen

AU - Kim, Jejoong

AU - Konstantinou, Nikos

AU - Laurent, Eric

AU - Lindeman, Marjaana

AU - Manav, Banu

AU - Marquardt, Lynn

AU - Mefoh, Philip

AU - Mroczko-Wąsowicz, Aleksandra

AU - Mutandwa, Phillip

AU - Ngabolo, Georgette

AU - Oberfeld, Daniel

AU - Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta

AU - Perchtold, Corinna M.

AU - Pérez-Albéniz, Alicia

AU - Pouyan, Niloufar

AU - Soron, Tanjir Rashid

AU - Roinishvili, Maya

AU - Romanyuk, Lyudmyla

AU - Montejo, Alejandro Salgado

AU - Sultanova, Aygun

AU - Tau, Ramiro

AU - Uuskülabe, Mari

AU - Vainio, Suvi

AU - Vargas-Soto, Veronica

AU - Volkan, Eliz

AU - Wąsowicz, Grażyna

AU - Zdravković, Sunčica

AU - Zhang, Meng

AU - Mohr, Christine

N1 - Published online: 19. September 2019

PY - 2019/12

Y1 - 2019/12

N2 - Across cultures, people associate colours with emotions. Here, we test the hypothesis that one driver of this cross-modal correspondence is the physical environment we live in. We focus on a prime example – the association of yellow with joy, – which conceivably arises because yellow is reminiscent of life-sustaining sunshine and pleasant weather. If so, this association should be especially strong in countries where sunny weather is a rare occurrence. We analysed yellow-joy associations of 6625 participants from 55 countries to investigate how yellow-joy associations varied geographically, climatologically, and seasonally. We assessed the distance to the equator, sunshine, precipitation, and daytime hours. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants who live further away from the equator and in rainier countries are more likely to associate yellow with joy. We did not find associations with seasonal variations. Our findings support a role for the physical environment in shaping the affective meaning of colour.

AB - Across cultures, people associate colours with emotions. Here, we test the hypothesis that one driver of this cross-modal correspondence is the physical environment we live in. We focus on a prime example – the association of yellow with joy, – which conceivably arises because yellow is reminiscent of life-sustaining sunshine and pleasant weather. If so, this association should be especially strong in countries where sunny weather is a rare occurrence. We analysed yellow-joy associations of 6625 participants from 55 countries to investigate how yellow-joy associations varied geographically, climatologically, and seasonally. We assessed the distance to the equator, sunshine, precipitation, and daytime hours. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants who live further away from the equator and in rainier countries are more likely to associate yellow with joy. We did not find associations with seasonal variations. Our findings support a role for the physical environment in shaping the affective meaning of colour.

KW - Colour

KW - Emotion

KW - Affect

KW - Cross-cultural

KW - Environment

KW - Climate

KW - Colour

KW - Emotion

KW - Affect

KW - Cross-cultural

KW - Environment

KW - Climate

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101350

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0272-4944

VL - 66

JO - Journal of Environmental Psychology

JF - Journal of Environmental Psychology

M1 - 101350

ER -