b'he says, she saysWhen it comes to gender differences, its not all pink and blue,as Karen Wardell found in her casual survey of colour perceptions.Shewantsonecolour,hewantsanother.WeveallheardthemOverall,orangeandyellowwerehappyandoptimisticcolours, discussing it in shops and on the street. That one word, colour.but orange was also chosen as an anxious colour by both sexes.Everybody reacts to it; that it should conjure up so many images andMore men thought of orange as happy and apricot as optimistic. stir up our emotions remains one of lifes mysteries. Red was definitely voted the colour of activity, with green the second Most of us are aware of the power of colour and that it affects ourchoiceeven though they are opposite colours on the colour wheel.buying patterns, behaviour and well-being on a deep and psychologicalMost of the colour preferences fell into the category of analogous level. But why are we so adamant that what we think about a certaincolours, i.e. colours that sit on the same side of the colour wheel, colour and its connotations is truthful? And why do men and womenwith the exception of the emotion anxious which moved violently have very different opinions when it comes to choosing colours?from one side to the other between blue and orange.To test the theory, 30 Resene colours were selected and participantsInterestingly, nobody chose the colour of learning (pale yellow) as a were asked to match them to 10 corresponding moods: Happy/sad,positive colour, nor did any of the visual arts students choose purple optimistic/pessimistic,love/hate,active/passive,anxious/calm.They(which is an artistic colour) while grey was overwhelmingly classified also had a choice of nominating any other colours they desired.as sad. The 30 colours were selected with care, using red, yellow, blue,Says the survey author Karen Wardell: Colour only takes on its true green, aqua and purple. Warm and cool colours were chosen as wellidentity when placed next to another colour. It is forever changing, as light or dark shades and tints. Terracotta was the only earthy hue,ephemereal and illusiveso simple, yet so complicated.although it was not popular and designated as a hateful colour by women. Men, of course, disagreed entirely. As to why cant men and women agree? Thats just the way it is. As a result, many debates ensued with total strangers and friends,Karen Wardell is studying for her Bachelor of Arts & Design in her while others tried to help their partner fill in the blanks correctly.degree year at NMIT in Nelson.There was some discussion about what colour sky blue was, and why one person chose green for both love and happy. ReseneSupernovaAround 60 percent of participants were female, but results wereResenecertainly not divided anywhere near two-thirds in their favour. ForBluestoneReseneinstance, the sexes could not agree on the colour of red for love, andCupidmore men by comparison chose pink. Resene ReseneCamarone WonderlandTraditionally yellow is the colour of happiness in Western society.Resene ReseneMore men chose this colour whereas the majority of women optedMalibu TandooriResene Resenefor a much warmer shade of yellow, some even choosing gold. Regent Grey PoprockA definite pattern emerged with warm colours more prevalent for Resenepositive moods.FlashbackReseneColours such as mauve and lavender were chosen as calming coloursMakoalong with light blue and apple greenall of which have a component of blue. Off-white was only chosen (but, at least, agreed on) by both sexes as being a passive colour.74'