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Colour and Personality Colour’s effects on each one of us are vast, yet most of us never realise that they are happening. Colour affects our personal and professional image, our spending habits, even our well being, and yet we hardly ever give a second though to how the colours that surround us day in, day out are influencing us. Colour is part of nature’s non-verbal signalling system and throughout each day, we experience unconscious psychophysical responses to colours we see. We rely on colour to help us in our assessment of every aspect of the world we inhabit – including the other people we encounter. Our appearance, particularly colour, is the first thing others use to judge us, (whether consciously or not), so much so, that it can have a negative effect on a positive opinion formed prior to meeting face to face, and vice versa. When you walk into a job interview for instance , the first impression is made in just three to seven seconds, during which time the interviewer/s will have unconsciously interpreted the message communicated by your colour choices that day. A bad first impression is difficult to overcome, no matter how solid your credentials, so it is essential that you learn how to use colour to your advantage, to use it to communicate the positive aspects of who you are and what you are capable of. In order to do this it is necessary to understand how colour communicates to us. We very rarely if ever see a single colour in isolation, we always see colour combinations. According to Judd & Wysesky (1975) colour harmony correlates colour combinations with “pleasant feelings”. So, where any colour combinations we perceive are in harmony then our unconscious response toward them is most likely to be positive in nature. It could be assumed therefore, that by simply ensuring that our clothes harmonise colour wise, then others response toward us will be positive in nature. Not so - there is a further, and the most important ingredient in the mix – the person wearing the clothes. Each person can be classified into one of four accepted psychological personality types or groups (our type remains the same from the day we are born to the day we die). This is not to suggest that everyone in a given group is exactly the same, rather, that there will be a set of behavioural patterns/characteristics common to all of those within a group. All colours can also be classified into four harmonious colour groups, each of which is associated with, and in harmony with, one of the four psychological personality types. Each colour group best expresses the positive characteristic of the personality type with which it is associated. In order, therefore, to ensure that others response toward you is most likely to be positive, you need to ensure that you choose colours only from the colour group which harmonises with your own psychological personality type. In doing so you will be in harmony with the colours you wear and others response toward you is much more likely to be positive in nature - even if they are a different personality type to your own. This is because we all respond positively to the harmony and authenticity contained within all four colour groups in association with their personality types – regardless of gender, age or geographical location. Our psychophysical response to colour is inherent – the child in Peru will respond in the same way as the adult in Iceland; the teenager in Beijing, the same way as the pensioner in Texas. It should be noted that It is rare to encounter an archetypal personality type. Although we all fall into one of the four personality types, we are tempered by subordinate influences of one or more of the others. So for instance, a personality type 1 subordinate might lighten the patterns of an intense personality type 3 both visually and in the personality, or a personality type 2 subordinate might mellow a rich, fiery, personality type 3, and so on. However, regardless of the influence of the subordinate personality, the bedrock of any individual’s character derives absolutely from their primary type and the only way to identify a person’s type is through a full consultation process.
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