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Colors Trigger Same Feelings Around the World, New Study Finds

A girl reacts as colored water is thrown on her face while celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors, in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017.
A girl reacts as colored water is thrown on her face while celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors, in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017.
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Colors Trigger Same Feelings Around the World, New Study Finds

A girl reacts as colored water is thrown on her face while celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors, in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017.
A girl reacts as colored water is thrown on her face while celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors, in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017.

A new study published this week has found that colors trigger same feelings among people around the world. For example, throughout the world the color of red is strongly associated with love and anger, while yellow is associated with the emotion of joy.

Brown, on the other hand, triggers the fewest emotions globally, the new study showed. "The study revealed a significant global consensus on this matter," said researcher Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel, associate professor at the Institute of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

This was the result of a detailed survey of around 4,600 participants from 30 nations over six continents. The participants were asked to assign up to 20 emotions to twelve different color terms.

The researchers then calculated the national averages for the data and compared these with the worldwide average. "No similar study of this scope has ever been carried out," said Oberfeld-Twistel.

In their study published in the Psychological Science journal, the researchers noted that there are some national peculiarities.

For example, the color of white is much more closely associated with sadness in China than it is in other countries, and the same applies to purple in Greece. "This may be because in China white clothing is worn at funerals and the color dark purple is used in the Greek Orthodox Church during periods of mourning," suggested Oberfeld-Twistel.

According to the findings, the differences between individual nations are greater the more they are geographically separated and/or the greater the differences between the languages spoken in them. The climate may also play a role. For instance, yellow tends to be more closely associated with the emotion of joy in countries that see less sunshine, than in the sunny countries.

It is currently difficult to say exactly what the causes for global similarities and differences are. "There is a range of possible influencing factors: language, culture, religion, climate, the history of human development, and the human perceptual system," highlighted Oberfeld-Twistel, adding that many fundamental questions have yet to be clarified.

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Rain Helps Southern California Firefighters but Sends Ash and Mud Flowing Down Hillsides

This aerial image provided by KABC-TV shows a mud-covered road, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Topanga, Calif. (KABC-TV via AP)
This aerial image provided by KABC-TV shows a mud-covered road, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Topanga, Calif. (KABC-TV via AP)
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Rain Helps Southern California Firefighters but Sends Ash and Mud Flowing Down Hillsides

This aerial image provided by KABC-TV shows a mud-covered road, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Topanga, Calif. (KABC-TV via AP)
This aerial image provided by KABC-TV shows a mud-covered road, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Topanga, Calif. (KABC-TV via AP)

Rain eased on Monday after Southern California's first significant storm of the season brought weekend downpours that aided firefighters but caused ash, mud and debris to flow across streets in wildfire-burned areas.

Less than an inch of rain fell in most areas, but it was enough to loosen Los Angeles hillsides burned bare by the recent blaze near the Pacific Palisades, where crews working before dawn cleared inundated roadways including the famed Pacific Coast Highway.

In neighboring Malibu, four schools were closed Monday “due to dangerous road conditions and challenges with access,” the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District said in a statement.

North of Los Angeles, snowy conditions late Sunday shut down the mountainous Tejon Pass section of Interstate 5, a key north-south artery. The California Department of Transportation said there was no estimated reopening time.

A winter storm warning remained in place until 4 p.m. Monday for mountains across San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where more than a foot (0.30 meters) of snow was predicted.

Flood watches also were in effect for the Palisades, Altadena and Castaic Lake, said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's office for Los Angeles.

“All these fresh burns are very susceptible to rapid runoff,” Sirard said Sunday.

Los Angeles International Airport reported just under an inch of rain (2.5 centimeters) in 24 hours ending at 3 a.m. Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. Surrounding areas experienced lesser amounts.

The rain came Saturday after months of dry and often gusty weather that created dangerous fire conditions. The downpours were a boon for firefighters but created the risk of toxic ash runoff.

Los Angeles County crews spent much of last week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in areas devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds on Jan. 7.

The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 11 people, reached 94% containment Monday. The Eaton Fire, which broke out near Altadena and has killed at least 16 people, was 98% contained.

The Hughes Fire, which ignited north of Los Angeles last week and caused evacuation orders or warnings for more than 50,000 people, was 95% contained as of Monday morning.

In San Diego County, firefighters made progress to contain the smaller Border 2 Fire as it burned through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the US-Mexico border.

Most of the region was forecast to get about an inch of precipitation over several days and the weather service warned of localized cloudbursts causing mud and debris to flow down hills.

“So the problem would be if one of those showers happens to park itself over a burn area,” weather service meteorologist Carol Smith said on social media. “That could be enough to create debris flows.”

City and county officials last week expedited cleanup efforts and other measures aimed at mitigating the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants.

Officials cautioned that ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and other household items. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Residents were urged to wear protective gear while cleaning up.

Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito, up the coast from Los Angeles, was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes charred by a huge wildfire. Hundreds of homes were damaged and 23 people died.

The rain ended a near-record streak of dry weather for Southern California. Most of Southern California is currently in “extreme drought” or “severe drought,” according to the US Drought Monitor.