How Sadness Changes Your Vision

The researchers note that previous work has specifically linked color perception on the blue-yellow axis with the neurotransmitter. But new research shows these linguistic pairings may be more than just metaphor: Our emotions can actually affect how we perceive colors. (P.S. Find out What Your Eye Color Says About How You Feel Pain.). We often use color to describe our moods, whether we’re ‘feeling blue,’  ‘seeing red,’  or  ‘green with envy.’

Real power does not hit hard, but right to the target.

In a study published in Psychological Science, 127 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to watch an emotional film clip—either a stand-up comedy routine or ‘a particularly sad scene’ from The Lion King. (Seriously, why are Disney movies so devastating!?) After watching the video, they were then shown 48 consecutive, desaturated color patches—meaning they look more gray, making them somewhat difficult to identify—and asked to indicate whether each patch was red, yellow, green, or blue.

Emotion

So why does emotion affect blue and yellow specifically? Human color vision can be basically described as using color axes—red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white—to create all the colors we see, lead study author Christopher Thorstenson says. The researchers note that previous work has specifically linked color perception on the blue-yellow axis with the neurotransmitter dopamine—the ‘feel-good brain chemical’—which is involved in vision, mood regulation, and some mood disorders.

Findings Mood

While follow-up studies are needed to apply the findings, for now, knowing that emotion and mood influence how we see the world around us is pretty interesting stuff. No word yet on the accuracy of those mood rings you rocked back in the day.