The Colors of Anger, Envy, Fear, and Jealousy

TLDR

Word associations between color and emotion were examined in five countries using 661 undergraduates who rated how much anger, envy, fear, and jealousy reminded them of 12 color terms on 6‑point scales. Across all nations, anger was linked to black and red, fear to black, and jealousy to red, while cross‑cultural differences emerged—Poles added purple to anger, envy, and jealousy; Germans added yellow to envy and jealousy; Americans added black, green, and red to envy; Russians added black, purple, and yellow to envy—suggesting that such cross‑modal associations arise from both universal human experiences and culture‑specific factors.

Abstract

Word associations or verbal synesthesia between concepts of color and emotions were studied in Gersnany, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and the United States. With emotion words as the between-subjects variable, 661 undergraduates indicated on 6-point scales to what extent anger, envy, fear, and jealousy reminded them of 12 terms of color. In all nations, the colors of anger were black and red, fear was black, and jealousy was red. Cross-cultural differences were (a) Poles connected anger, envy, and jealousy also with purple; (b) Germans associated envy and jealousy with yellow; and (c) Americans associated envy with black, green, and red, but for the Russians it was black, purple, and yellow. The findings suggest that cross-modal associations originate in universal human experiences and in culture-specific variables, such as language, mythology, and literature.