” When I am sad, I see everything in gray .” This impression that the world seems more gray and opaque than normal when we are in low spirits, has more of certainty than of metaphor. New research from the University of Rochester (USA) suggests that the feeling of sadness can change the way we perceive color. The study has been published in the journal Psychological Science .
Is there a specific link between sadness and our ability to perceive color? This was the starting point of the experiment for which the researchers had 127 participants who were divided into three randomly assigned groups : the first observed a hilarious comedy to provoke a happy and funny mood; the second, watched a dramatic movie with a tearful ending; and, the third group, remained as a control group without visualizing anything.
After these, the researchers showed the volunteers 48 consecutive color samples and asked them to indicate which main color – red, yellow, green or blue – they belonged to. The results revealed that people induced to feel sad were less accurate in identifying colors on the blue-yellow axis than those who were emotionally neutral or even those induced to feel joy .
“ Our results show that mood and emotions can affect the way we view the world around us. Our work advances the study of perception by showing that sadness specifically affects the basic visual processes that are involved in the perception of color ”, explains Christopher Thorstenson, leader of the study.
