How colours affect your moods
Sexy billionaire Christian Grey may have his red room of pain in the saucy bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey.
But it turns out that purple is actually the sexiest colour you can paint your bedroom.
A
new survey has found that people with a purple colour scheme in their
boudoir have the most sex - clocking up 3.49 intimate encounters each
week. And despite the title of the EL James blockbuster, those with grey
bedrooms notch up a paltry 1.8 weekly romps, according to
Littlewoods.com.
But
it's not just our sex lives that are influenced by colour. So are our
moods, our appetites and how well our brain works. Here's how different
hues affect your body.
BLUE
If
you want to lose weight, try painting your kitchen blue. One study
found that diners who eat in a blue room, compared to one painted red or
yellow, eat a third less calories.
"Most
people are unaware of the profound effect colour has on their
behaviour," says Kenneth Fehrman, co-author of Color: The Secret
Influence. "For instance, blue is an appetite suppressant. In tests,
many people could not bring themselves to eat foods coloured blue.
"We have deep-seated instincts to avoid blue foods, or anything linked to them, as they tend to be poisonous."
PINK
Katie
Price and her fiance Leo might be interested to learn that if you and
your partner row a lot, you might want to think about painting your
walls pink.
Studies have found the girly hue has a calming effect on the body - and reduces muscle strength.
Dr
Alexander Schauss, director of the American Institute for Biosocial and
Medical Research in Washington, was the first to discover how the shade
dampens down anger and anxiety in the late 70s.
Since then, many prisons in the US have painted cells this hue to keep inmates calm.
Dr
Schauss explains: "Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in
the presence of pink, he can't. The heart muscles can't race fast
enough.
"It's a tranquillising colour that saps your energy."
Perhaps
it's no surprise that women respond more positively to pink. In one
study, researchers found they were more likely to vote for politicians
if their names were written on pink ballot papers, rather than green
ones. Men favoured the names on the green slips.
Both genders have also been found to be more likely to respond to surveys if they are printed on pink paper instead of white.
RED
Looking for love? Than it turns out that being a scarlet woman really could do the trick.
The
colour red has been found to make men more attracted to the opposite
sex, researchers at the University of Rochester, New York, found. Nearly
100 men were shown photographs of women in different coloured clothes
and those in scarlet were rated as much more desirable - and the men
said they would spend more cash on them on a date.
It
also works the other way around. In the experiment, women also rated
men in red as more attractive. Scientists believe it is because the
human mind unconsciously associates red with arousal - as well as power.
YELLOW
There
is a reason that Post-it notes are yellow. Studies show that the colour
improves concentration, because it literally "wakes up" the brain and
nervous system.
Smiley
faces are also this colour because looking at yellow has been found to
trigger the release of feel-good brain chemical serotonin.
Colour
psychologist Kate Nightingale, who advises clients how to use colour to
make the right impression, says that how our bodies respond to colours
depends on the emotions the shades evoke.
"These reactions are often linked to our experiences of nature," says Kate.
"When
we see a certain colour, it makes us feel certain feelings. For
example, yellow makes you think of the sun and of summertime.
"These
emotions act on the hormones and neurotransmitters, the chemical
messengers in our brain - and this in turn changes the ways our bodies
feel and behave."
GREEN
As
it appears in the middle of the colour spectrum, and has a wavelength
easily seen by the eye, green is the least offensive colour to look at.
As a result, it has a calming effect, which is why TV studios have "green rooms" to calm guests' nerves before they appear.
Before
the arrival of interactive classroom displays, blackboards were painted
green because it was easier for students to look at them.
And
in one study, office workers who could see green out of the window
liked their jobs more, were happier and healthier. Several other surveys
have also found that because green puts consumers in a more relaxed
state, they stay longer and spend more cash in shops painted this shade.
WHITE / BLACK
Although
white is associated with simplicity, tests by US space agency, NASA,
found workers in white rooms work less well than in pastel rooms,
possibly because they find the stark contrasts around them distracting.
However, white is also a calming colour. In one test, people with hand tremors were found to shake less in white rooms.
Kate
Nightingale says: "White implies honesty and purity, and wearing it has
also been found to make people act in a more altruistic way, which is
why doctors and nurses wear this colour."
Because black is often seen as a powerful colour, it can also be interpreted as aggressive.
In
one experiment by the University of Florida, two hockey teams were made
to swap their black and coloured sports uniforms. Whichever team wore
the black jerseys saw their players penalised for more fouls.
