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Do different colors affect your mood?

Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do weightlifters do their best in blue gyms?

Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. And even in Western societies, the meanings of various colors have changed over the years. But today in the U.S., researchers have generally found the following to be accurate.

Red

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a color found in many national flags.

Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, ‘Lady in Red’, etc). Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights). This color is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks, games, cars, items related to sports and high physical activity.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

Orange

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young people. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Orange is the color of fall and harvest. In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design. Orange is very effective for promoting food products and toys.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.
Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action.
Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

Yellow

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children’s products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, ‘childish’ color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men – nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they loose cheerfulness and become dingy.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

Green

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a ‘greenhorn’ is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic.

Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote ‘green’ products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

Blue

Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite. When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

Purple

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

According to surveys, almost 75 percent of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Purple is a very rare color in nature; some people consider it to be artificial.

Light purple is a good choice for a feminine design. You can use bright purple when promoting children’s products.

Light purple evokes romantic and nostalgic feelings.
Dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings. It can cause frustration.

White

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection.

White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning. In heraldry, white depicts faith and purity.

In advertising, white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it’s the color of snow. You can use white to suggest simplicity in high-tech products. White is an appropriate color for charitable organizations; angels are usually imagined wearing white clothes. White is associated with hospitals, doctors, and sterility, so you can use white to suggest safety when promoting medical products. White is often associated with low weight, low-fat food, and dairy products.

Black

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black holes). It usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor, ‘black death’). Black denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color (black tie, black Mercedes). In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief.

Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but a black background diminishes readability. A black suit or dress can make you look thinner. When designing for a gallery of art or photography, you can use a black or gray background to make the other colors stand out. Black contrasts well with bright colors. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colors – black gives a very aggressive color scheme.

Where my passion is there is purpose.
–Deon Sanders

Where my passion is there is purpose.
–Deon Sanders

November 19, 2007

(Ventura, CA) – Billions of dollars will be spent this Christmas season on gifts for children. A new national study by The Barna Group among Christian parents shows that even though most Christian parents are not always comfortable with the content of the media-related products, they purchase some of those items as presents for their children. The born again Christian population of the U.S. is likely to spend more than $1 billion on media products such as CDs, DVDs, video games and magazines for children under the age of 18 despite parental misgivings about the moral content or developmental affects of those resources.

Past Purchases and Feelings

The Barna survey discovered that the most widely purchased media by Christian parents in the past year were DVDs of movies and TV programs. More than three out of four Christian parents (78%) had purchased such disks for their teenagers and almost nine out of ten Christian parents (87%) had purchased DVDs for their children under 13. However, one-quarter of those adults (26%) did not feel comfortable with the DVD products they purchased.

The next most popular type of media content purchased for children by Christian parents were music CDs. About six out of ten parents bought these discs for their kids, yet one out of every three of those parents (33%) had concerns about the content. This was more evident among the parents of teenagers than among those who were buying music for pre-teens.

Slightly more than half of all Christian parents had purchased video games for their children in the past year, in both the pre-teen and teen categories. About four out of ten pre-teen parents (39%) were concerned about the content of those games, compared to nearly half of the parents of teen recipients (46%) who admitted to such concerns.

Similarly, about half of all Christian parents (51%) had purchased magazines for their children. Roughly three out of ten Christian parents (31%) were not very comfortable with the content of the magazines acquired for their children.

Computer software was bought by 36% of the Christian parents of pre-teens and 39% of the Christian parents of teenagers. Overall, one out of every four Christian parents who acquired software for their children (24%) was not comfortable with the software.

The least common media form acquired by Christian parents for their children were downloads for mobile phones. Just 3% of the parents of pre-teens and 19% of teen parents bought one or more downloads for their children. Overall, a large majority (70%) possessed concerns about the content of those downloads.

Patterns of Discomfort

In examining the discomfort of Christian parents related to the media content purchased for their children, the survey data indicated that the parents least likely to buy such media resources for their children were fathers and Hispanics.

The Christian parents who were generally the least comfortable with the content of the products purchased were non-whites and parents involved in a house church. On the other hand, among the Christian parents most comfortable with the media products purchased were single parents, mothers and those who were least active in practicing their faith.

The research examined the media use of the parents interviewed. There was a significant link between parental media use and the level of comfort with the media resources purchased for their children. The more media consumed by the parent, the more comfortable they were with all forms of media they had purchased for their children.

The study also pointed out that parental concern about media content is significantly higher when the products purchased are for teenagers. Parents struggle to walk the fine line between buying things that are morally appropriate while being relevant to the age group.

Observations about the Findings

The outcomes struck the study’s lead researcher, George Barna, as reflective of the challenge Christians face in today’s culture.

“Millions of Christian parents want to appear to be relevant in their children’s eyes, and to provide gifts that fit within the mainstream of postmodern society,” Barna noted. “The problem is that many of the entertainment products that meet those criteria conflict with the moral precepts of the Christian faith. Parents have to make a choice as to what is more important: pleasing their kids’ taste and sensibilities, or satisfying God’s standards as defined in the Bible. When the decision made is to keep their children happy, the Christian parent is often left with a pit in their stomach.

“The process of selecting appropriate Christmas presents for children is a microcosm of the spiritual tension millions of Christian adults wrestle with,” the California-based researcher explained. “Many Christian parents are striving to serve two conflicting masters: society and God. They refuse to believe that they cannot satisfy both. Sadly, this Christmas season will produce enormous stress for numerous Christian parents who don’t want to disappoint either God or their children, but whose ultimate choices will disappoint both God and themselves, while providing gifts that are not be in the best interests of their children. For Christians, the Christmas season should be a time of celebration and appreciation of the life of Jesus Christ. Instead, that joy is being minimized by the pressure and confusion introduced by our focus on material consumption and fulfillment.”

About the Research

This report is based upon a nationwide telephone survey conducted by The Barna Group in among a random sample of 601 Christian adults who were the parents of children between the ages of 2 and 18. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±4.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.

The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website www.barna.org.

Visit our website: Christian Family Learning for excellent Family educational and entertainment media and resources

• Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have enough to eat.
• Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party, because it means you have been surrounded by friends.
• Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you’re employed.
• Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, because it means you have a home.
• Be thankful for your heating bill, because it means you are warm.
• Be thankful for the laundry, because it means you have clothes to wear.
• Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means you can walk.
• Be thankful for the lady who sings off-key behind you in church, because it means you can hear.
• Be thankful when people complain about the government, because it means we have freedom of speech.
• Be thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means you’re alive.

We should be thankful for…

Family – Those nearest and dearest to us…

Friends that help us make life worth living…

For homes where we are sheltered and fed…

The soil from whence cometh food to sustain…

For love – what would life be like if all we met, worked with and lived around had only hatred in their hearts?

For light that we might see the beauties and grandeur about us….

For summer warmth and for renewed life in spring; For autumn and its color for the magnificence of a snowstorm…

For quiet and meditation…

For time, for reason and for peace…

For life and its continuance…

For many things that appear small but help make up the treasures of life…

For precious memories to brighten our golden years…

For the joy and laughter of children…

For song…

For the great sky above us and for the star- filled nights when rest is ours…

Dear God in heaven, help us to be thankful.

Author Unknown

• Are YOU thankful to God? See what the Bible has to say about it. Post your thanks to encourage others. Go

• Why should every day be Thanksgiving for Christians? Answer

• What is the origin of America’s annual Thanksgiving Day? Answer

• Why do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving? Answer… (for children)

• President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation – Read it

• Do it with your mouth, not just your mind – Psalm 51:15, 63:5, 66:8, 66:17, 71:8, 15, 24, 105:2, 109:30, 119:171-172, 145:21
• Seek God, thirst for Him – Psalm 22:26, 42:2, 63:8, 105:4
• Thank God continuously – Psalm 71:6, 8, 14-15, 75:9, 79:13, 92:1-2, 115:18, 145:2
• Tell people about God’s wondrous works – Psalm 26:7, 96:3
• Thank and praise God in front of your brothers and sisters in the congregation, among many people- Psalm 22:22, 25, 26:12, 35:18, 68:26, 111:1, 116:19
• Among the unsaved of all nations, thank and praise God – Psalm 18:49, 57:9, 96:10, 108:3
• Praise God to the next and all generations – 79:13, 102:18, 145:4
• Sing praises to God, sing with understanding, and make it glorious – Psalm 7:17, 47:7, 66:2, 66:4, 9:2, 27:6, 28:7, 57:9, 61:8, 63:7, 68:4, 32, 69:30, 71:22-23, 92:1, 96:2, 101:1, 104:33, 105:2, 135:3, 146:2
  Even sing for joy in your bed Psalm 149:5
• Do it with all your heart – Psalm 9:1, 86:12, 111:1, 138:1
• Be glad and rejoice in God – Psalm 9:2
• Fear God, honor Him, glorify Him, revere Him – Psalm 22:23
• Love and respect God’s house – Psalm 26:8, 138:2
• Don’t sin, seek righteousness – Psalm 33:1
• Play musical instruments to praise God, and do it skillfully – Psalm 33:2-3, 43:4, 71:22, 92:3, 149:3, 150:3-5
• Shout for joy, rejoice – Psalm 33:3
• Be creative in your praise (write or sing God a NEW song, not always the same old one) – Psalm 33:3, 149:1
• Stand in awe of Him – Psalm 33:8
• Remember and praise God’s names – Psalm 44:8, 45:17, 54:6
• Lift up your hands to Him – Psalm 63:4
• Think about God at night – Psalm 63:6
• Encourage other to praise and thank God – Psalm 67:3-5
• Praise him with dancing – Psalm 150:3, 30:11, 149:3

After reading the Psalmists’ instruction, it would be wise to ask ourselves: Do our lives truly express thankfulness to God? Or are we numbered among those are living a life of ingratitude, failing to act like we understand who God really is and what he has done?