Newsletter Released on Workplace Color Effects
“Although color is an integral part of design, very little empirical evidence exists to support some of the popularly held ideas about the effects of color on task performance, worker productivity, and human psychology,” says author Nancy Kwallek, Ph.D., a professor and director of the interior design program in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. Contrary to what one might expect, for example, studies Kwallek conducted found that although a color scheme may affect a worker’s mood, there was no correlation between mood and productivity.
Kwallek discusses some recent studies that have affected popular notions about color and behavior, such as the infamous study on how inmates in a Seattle prison exhibited less aggressive traits when they were placed in cells painted pink. Despite the fact that the results could not be duplicated by other researchers, the belief that pink is a soothing color still persists. Kwallek also presents findings from some of her own research on the use of color in office environments.
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