Affective and Symbolic Meanings of Color and Form: Experimental Psychological Approaches

Affective meanings of colors and forms were studied with the Semantic Differential technique and word-color/word-form associations. Results of word-color associations and word-form associations were in close relation with similarities of affective meanings between words and colors and between words and forms. Cross-cultural comparisons indicated wide generality of affective and symbolic meanings of colors and forms. However, some cultural differences were found, especially in evaluation. Affective meanings of various color-combinations and colored forms were compared with those of component colors and forms. Weighted linear combinations of affective effects of component colors or forms were found in those of color-combinations and color-form combinations, but interaction between components were found important especially in the evaluative dimension.