How Does Gender Affect Color Perception?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to discover if there is a gender difference in response to color. Studies have shown that people of the female gender are less tolerant to grey-ish colors than males are. This means men are more likely to enjoy duller colors than women. Thus, it is proven that women may be more color-conscious and their color tastes more diverse. Methods/Materials Materials: Ten girls and ten boys from the grades second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. 20 paint chips categorized as tertiary colors. An empty room. Clipboard. Paper. Pencil or pen. Camera in order to record grouping of the colors. Method: One by one, I gave the children a stack of color chips all of the size size. I had a set scrpit stating "What you're going to do for me is sort this pile of colors into three piles any way you like. They do not have to be even." Then when the child was finished I took a photo of the piles the had sorted and asked them to bring out the next child. Results After testing many young children, I discovered an interesting color sorting tactic used by many of the subjects who made random piles. Even when I specified that they DID NOT need to make the piles even, the children dealt the colors out like playing cards. When there was one color left, due to the odd number, the subjects were very confused and conflicted. The girls of the Fifth grade did not sort random piles at all, compared to the majority of boys choosing to randomize the colors. As the children get younger, it is apparent that the likelihood grew that the subjects would group the chips randomly. As the girls get older, they also sort the colors as "Looking Good Together" more frequently. Another tactic of grouping by a majority of girls and a minority of boys which was used more than I had originally anticipated was "Dark to Light" or "Warm to Cooler." This is probably just due to the association of these pairings in art education. Conclusions/Discussion My Hypothesis was correct. Women and girls are more color oriented in life and take more notice to the ways colors are paired and grouped. Men and boys are less focused on color. I have discovered that the younger the subjects, the more likely it was that subjects would sort the colors more randomly. This may be due to the smaller exposure to color groups and general education of color.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0419

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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