Color in Space: The Influence of Abstract Color Preferences on Context-Dependent Preferences

According to available data, in everyday practices, people rarely base their decisions on abstract color preferences (choosing favorite colors in general). In culture and society, the color preferences are usually concrete. Favorite colors are associated with situations and the material substrate (the bearer of the color), and these context-dependent color preferences do not coincide with abstract ones. The study presented in the article aims to experimentally test the hypothesis that context-dependent color preferences in space are still influenced by abstract preferences. The experiment involved 368 participants (53 men and 315 women) aged 17 to 33 years (with an average age of 20.5 years). The palette of experimental stimuli consisted of 31 shades: 3 achromatic (white, gray, and black) and 28 chromatic. The chromatic shades varied in hue (red, orange, yellow, green, blue-green, blue, purple) and in the ratio of saturation and lightness (bright, muted, light, dark). The experiment confirmed that context plays an important role in the formation of favorite and disliked colors. At the same time, a connection between abstract and context-dependent color preferences does exist. Context-dependent color preferences are shaped under the influence of abstract preferences. However, this influence is non-linear and manifests not directly (in full agreement of choice) but in individual chromatic characteristics - hue, lightness, perceived brightness, saturation. The conducted research expands conclusions about the relationship between abstract and context-dependent color preferences and contributes to the discussion of disliked colors and the factors that influence the formation of affective responses to color stimuli.