Article Accepted Manuscript

What does your favourite colour say about your personality? Not much

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Jonauskaite, Domicele
Thalmayer, Amber Gayle
Müller, Lauriane
Mohr, Christine

Abstract / Description

The claim that favourite colours reveal individuals’ personalities is popular in the media yet lacks scientific support. We assessed this claim in two stages. First, we catalogued claims from six popular websites, and matched them to key Big Six/HEXACO trait terms, ultimately identifying 11 specific, systematic, testable predictions (e.g., higher Extraversion among those who prefer red, orange, yellow, pink, or turquoise). Next, we tested these predictions in terms of Big Six trait scores and reports of favourite and least favourite colours from 323 French-speaking participants. For every prediction (e.g., red-extraversion), we compared trait scores between participants who chose or did not choose the predicted colour using Welch's t-tests. We failed to confirm any of the 11 predictions. Further exploratory analyses (MANOVA) revealed no associations between colour preferences and personality trait. Favourite colours appear unrelated to personality, failing to support the practical utility of colour-based personality assessment.

Keyword(s)

colour preference 30QB6 Big Six HEXACO beliefs individual differences personality correlates affect cross-modal correspondences

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2021-11-29

Journal title

Personality Science

Publisher

PsychArchives

Publication status

acceptedVersion

Review status

reviewed

Is version of

Citation

Jonauskaite, D., Thalmayer, A. G., Müller, L., & Mohr, C. (in press). What does your favourite colour say about your personality? Not much [Accepted Manuscript]. Personality Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5256
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Jonauskaite, Domicele
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Thalmayer, Amber Gayle
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Müller, Lauriane
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Mohr, Christine
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2021-11-29T11:47:16Z
  • Made available on
    2021-11-29T11:47:16Z
  • Date of first publication
    2021-11-29
  • Abstract / Description
    The claim that favourite colours reveal individuals’ personalities is popular in the media yet lacks scientific support. We assessed this claim in two stages. First, we catalogued claims from six popular websites, and matched them to key Big Six/HEXACO trait terms, ultimately identifying 11 specific, systematic, testable predictions (e.g., higher Extraversion among those who prefer red, orange, yellow, pink, or turquoise). Next, we tested these predictions in terms of Big Six trait scores and reports of favourite and least favourite colours from 323 French-speaking participants. For every prediction (e.g., red-extraversion), we compared trait scores between participants who chose or did not choose the predicted colour using Welch's t-tests. We failed to confirm any of the 11 predictions. Further exploratory analyses (MANOVA) revealed no associations between colour preferences and personality trait. Favourite colours appear unrelated to personality, failing to support the practical utility of colour-based personality assessment.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    acceptedVersion
    en
  • Review status
    reviewed
    en
  • Sponsorship
    This research was possible thanks to the support by the Swiss National Science Foundation, providing a Doc.CH fellowship grant to DJ (P0LAP1_175055) and a project funding grant to CM (100014_182138)
    en_US
  • Citation
    Jonauskaite, D., Thalmayer, A. G., Müller, L., & Mohr, C. (in press). What does your favourite colour say about your personality? Not much [Accepted Manuscript]. Personality Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5256
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2700-0710
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/4668
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5256
  • Language of content
    eng
    en_US
  • Publisher
    PsychArchives
    en_US
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.6297
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6334
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6334
  • Keyword(s)
    colour preference
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    30QB6 Big Six
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    HEXACO
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    beliefs
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    individual differences
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    personality correlates
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    affect
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    cross-modal correspondences
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    What does your favourite colour say about your personality? Not much
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
    en_US
  • Journal title
    Personality Science
    en
  • Visible tag(s)
    PsychOpen GOLD
    en_US
  • Visible tag(s)
    Accepted Manuscript
    en_US