28 research article udc 159.937.51 personality traits

Cigić at al.

RESEARCH ARTICLE UDC 159.937.51

PERSONALITY TRAITS AND COLOUR PREFERENCES RAZLIKE U OSOBINAMA LIČNOSTI IZMEĐU TIPOVA ISPITANIKA FORMIRANIH NA OSNOVU PREFERENCIJE BOJA Dunja Cigić1, Vojislava Bugarski 1 Abstract: The objective of this investigation was to find out if there existed any differences in personality traits of subjects grouped according to the colour preference criterion. The study sample included a total of 104 subjects recruited from the third-year students of two grammar schools in Novi Sad, Serbia. The research instruments applied were the short version of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire and the Colour Preference Questionnaire designed particularly for the purpose of this investigation. The obtained results showed that there were personality differences between subjects preferring dark colours (brown, grey and black) and subjects preferring bright colours (red, yellow). Social introversion and neuroticism/ anxiety were more prominent personality traits in subjects who preferred dark colours, while aggression and activity were more prominent in subjects who preferred bright colours. Key words: Colour preference, personality traits, Alternative Five-Factor Model of Personality Sažetak: Cilj ovog istraživanja je da pruži odgovor na pitanje da li postoje razlike u osobinama ličnosti između grupa ispitanika formiranih na osnovu preferencije boja. Ispitanici su bili učenici treće godine novosadskih gimnazija, ukupno 104 ispitanika. Od instrumenata korišćeni su skraćena verzija Zakerman-Kulmanovog upitnika za procenu ličnosti i Upitnik za procenu stepena dopadanja boja konstruisan za dato istraživanje. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da postoje razlike u osobinama ličnosti između ispitanika koji više preferiraju tamnije boje (braon, siva i crna) naspram jarkih boja (crvena, žuta). Izraženije osobine socijalne introverzije i neuroticizma/anksioznosti se beleže u grupi ispitanika kojoj se više dopadaju tamnije boje, dok se izraženije prisustvo osobina kao što su agresivnost i aktivitet beleže u grupi ispitanika koja više preferira jarke boje. Ključne reči: preferencija boja, osobine ličnosti, Alternativni petofaktorski model ličnosti

1

Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia Correspondence to: Dunja Cigić, MPsy; Address: Banović Strahinje 18, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; E-mail: [email protected] * Received November 16, 2010; accepted December 17, 2010.

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Curr Top Neurol Psychiatr Relat Discip. Vol 18, No. 4, December 2010

Cigić at al.

INTRODUCTION Marvin Zuckerman’s Alternative Five-Factor Model of Personality At the basis of all personality models and accompanying personality assessment instruments lie the presumptions regarding the nature of personality dimensions (1). Psychobiological personality theories (e.g. Eysenck’s theory of planned behaviour), propose models for understanding the interaction between the biological and environmental effects on the personality traits. Psychobiological personality theories assume there is a certain neuropsychological system at the basis of any personality trait, and this system’s structure and function are affected by synergistic effects of genes and the environment. Individual differences in the system’s functioning retroactively affect the differences on the behavioural plane. However, Zuckerman opines there is no isomorphism between the personality traits and neuropsychological systems. Neuropsychological systems may exert their influence on diverse manifested behaviours, which may be related to a wide spectrum of the personality traits. Therefore, there is an interaction, but not a separate influence of these systems on behaviour. Each trait is supported by complex neuropsychological functions and systems that contribute to manifesting a large number of traits (2). Relying upon the investigations of biopsychological bases of many personality traits, Zuckerman has developed the approach with diverse trait levels postulated, enabling thus their adequate description (1). Psychometrically operationalized traits are at the first level; consistent behaviour patterns and accustomed cognitive reactions in certain situations are at the second level; then follow the learning and conditioning; the cortical physiology differences are examined at the fourth level; biochemical systems (neurotransmitters, enzymes or hormones) are at the fifth level; neurological systems at the basis of functioning are at the sixth level; and the genetic structure is at the last, seventh level. To fully understand a particular personality trait, it is essential to investigate all the levels of its manifestation. The dimensions of Zuckerman’s Alternative Five-Factor Model are Activity, Aggression/Hostility, Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Neuroticism/Anxiety and Sociability. Each of these dimensions has specific manifestations at the le-

vel of behaviour, the basis in the form of the process of conditioning, as well as its physiological, biochemical, neurological and genetic basis (1). According to Zuckerman, the physiological processes underlying the cortical excitation or inhibition are important for all basic personality dimensions. Therefore, modern psychological models abandon former reductional approaches, considering the relations between the physiological and psychological features to be due to complex interactions. In addition to the presumption that the psychological processes are physiologically conditioned, one of the axioms of the psychobiological approach is the thesis that they are genetically predetermined (1). Colours The colour is the sight sensation produced in the retina by the visible light rays, i.e. the electromagnetic irradiation of 380-760nm wave length. According to this definition, the colour is a feature of neither the sensation-producing light nor the light-emitting object, but it is a psychic experience produced by electromagnetic irradiation (3). The spectrum may be divided into several segments, which when collected together regardless their number, again produce the white light. If the spectrum is dispersed through a prism into three equal segments, three primary colours are obtained. The first colour classification includes the primary and complex colours. Three primary colours are red, yellow and blue. Three complex colours are produced by mixing these primary ones: red+yellow=orange, blue+yellow=green and blue+red=violet. These colours are also called secondary. Tertiary colours are produced by mixing the primary and secondary ones (e.g. blue greenish, yellow greenish, etc.). Another classification of the colours includes the warm (red, yellow, orange) and cold (blue, violet, green) colours. This classification has resulted from the fact that these colours can in nature be correlated to respective thermal states (red– fire, blue – sea). Neutral colours include brown, coffee colour and alike. Complementary colours are the two colours neither of which is contained in another one. They take the opposite sides in Ostwald’s colour wheel. These are: orange and blue (as orange is produced


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by mixing red and yellow, i.e. it contains not a bit of blue), violet and yellow, and red and green. The German physicist Wilhelm Ostwald was the first to formulate the classification of colours depending on their chromatic features, which has been generally accepted nowadays. According to their chromatic features, the colours are classified as variegated and non-variegated, that is as chromatic and non-chromatic, or chromatin and achromatic (neutral). Variegated or chromatic colours are the ones included within the Sun Spectrum, and nonvariegated or achromatic colours include black, white and grey. The Colour and the Personality The colour is an important aspect of our efforts to create our personal environment we like. There is a surprisingly small number of studies investigating the correlation between the individual colour preference and the personality. According to Luscher, who advocates the thesis that the subjects with similar colour preference may have similar personality traits, the subjects’ psychological reactions/attitudes to the primary colours (blue, red, yellow and green) reflect their basic psychological needs. When, for example, someone does not like red, he/she unconsciously reflects anxiety (4). Eysenck postulated that the introverts, unlike the extroverts, are preoccupied with their own thoughts and emotions, so they choose a social environment that allows them to achieve a medium level of the optimal excitement (1). The studies of the effect of colour on excitement have shown that there is a correlation between colour preferences and personality traits. More precisely, the introverts prefer „calm” colours (such as blue), because they reduce the excitement, while the extroverts prefer „exciting” colours (such as red), as they increase the excitement level (4). A study in which hue (but not brightness or saturation) was varied showed that more extroverts than introverts preferred warm colours (5). In his careful analysis of the effect of permanent observation of coloured surfaces through psychophysical functions, Gerard reported a significantly weaker excitement under the blue than under the red and white light (6). Subjects who scored high on the manifest anxiety scale were significantly more exci30

ted under the red light and calmer under the blue light as compared to the subjects with low manifest anxiety score (6). The high structural mode of colour application has been established to be in the positive correlation with the socially reserved style of behaviour and in the negative correlation with extroversion. However, the looser application of colours is not necessarily in a close correlation with extroversion (7). Lange and Rentfrow suppose that similar personality traits may be reflected through diverse colour preference patterns, e.g., the high creativity might be associated with the yellow or red colour preference at the first place, and the blue colour preference at the last place (8). The history of the psychological studies on the relationship between personality and colour has been partially reviewed by Schaie, who suggested that the colour shades in the spectrum order from red to violet represent a series of emotions, from excitement, unrestraint, direct and prolonged impulsive discharge (red), over calmness (green), to anxiety and concern (violet) (5). The correlation of the violet colour and concern and tension has been supported by the findings of a great number of psycho-pathological groups. Birren has reported an association between the warm colours and energetic and excited moods and between the cool colours and passive and calm moods (9). OBJECTIVE The investigation was carried out in order to examine the possibility of selecting the personality types within the content of the Colour Preference Assessment Questionnaire, i.e. to answer the problematic question „Are there personality trait differences between the clusters of the examined subjects formed on the colour preference basis?“ The few investigations of this problem carried out so far suggest there is a correlation between warm colours and energetic and exciting moods, as well as between cool colours and passive and calm moods; in other words, the extroverts tend to prefer warm colours, unlike the introverts (9). These theoretical suppositions suggest the hypothesis of personality trait differences between subjects who prefer dark colours and those who prefer bright colours.


Cigić at al.

METHOD Procedure The investigation was carried out in May, 2009. The study sample included the students of four third-year classes of two grammar schools (‘’Laza Kostić’’ and ‘’Jovan Jovanović Zmaj’’) in Novi Sad, Serbia. Two third-year classes from each school were included. The school authorities gave their written consent for this project. Prior to the initiation, the examined subjects were informed the investigation was anonymous, and the obtained results would be used for the research purposes exclusively. Having obtained the investigated subjects’ written consent for participation in the study, they were all given a written instruction regarding the application of the short version of ZuckermanKuhlman Personality Questionnaire, with an additional oral instruction concerning the application of the Colour Preference Questionnaire, designed for the purpose of this investigation exclusively. The time for filling in the questionnaires was not limited. The subjects were given to fill in the short version of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire, and they came to the teacher’s desk one by one, where was a computer with the stimuli (colours) on the screen. All the instructions had been explained before the study started, so in the second part of the investigation the students just answered the Colour Preference Questionnaire, with the stimuli – eight colours of the Luscher Colour Test simultaneously appearing on the 15-inch computer screen. Sample The investigation was carried out on a sample of a total of 104 subjects of both sexes, of whom 53 (51%) were males and 51 (49%) females, average age of approximately 17 years (M=17.45; SD=0.52). The subjects were matched with regard to the basic sociodemographic variables - gender (χ2 = 0.636; p>0.05) and age (χ2 = 0.955; p>0.05). Instruments Two investigation instruments were applied in the study: the short version of Zuckerman- Kuhlman

Personality Questionnaire, and the Colours Preference Questionnaire. Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire - ZKPQ-50-CC (10) includes 50 items with a binary answer format. The short version of the questionnaire utilizes the dimensions of the Alternative Five-Factor Personality Model: Activity (Act), Aggression-Hostility (Agg-Host), Impulsive Sensation Seeking (ImpSS), Neuroticism-Anxiety (NAnx) and Sociability (Sy). The subjects’ achievements in the examined dimensions were defined by the factor scores on the first primary components of each subscale. Reliability coefficients for each dimension on the short version of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire are presented in Table 1. The reliability expressed by the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient has been confirmed in some international studies (Germany and the United States) (10), showing that the short form of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire has satisfactory reliability for most subscales. Table 1. Reliability of ZKPQ-50-CC subscales expressed by the Cronbach’s alpha

Neuroticism-Anxiety Impulsive Sensation Seeking Activity Sociability Aggression-Hostility

Cronbach α (USA) 0.80

Cronbach α (Germany) 0.82

0.72

0.73

0.74 0.74 0.72

0.74 0.67 0.60

The Colour Preference Questionnaire The Colour Preference Questionnaire was designed for this investigation in particular, with the Luscher Colour test as a model (4). However, the responding and scoring format is different from that in the original Luscher Colour Test. To apply the Colour Preference Questionnaire, it is necessary to have a 15-inch computer screen on which an examiner simultaneously presents all the stimuli, i.e., the eight colours (green, yellow, grey, red violet, black, brown and blue) from the original Luscher Colour Test. The questionnaire is applied in two stages. In the first stage, subjects are asked to select the colour they like best from those pre-


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sented on the screen. In the second stage, subjects assess each of the given eight colours on the fivepoint Likert scale (1- I don’t like it at all, 2 -I don’t like it, 3 - I can’t decide, 4- I like it, and 5 - I like it very much). Subjects were exposed to the stimuli all the time while they were answering the questionnaire. Statistical analyses The statistical processing of the obtained data was performed using SPSS 11 (Statistical Package for Social Science) and Statistica 7.0 for Windows. In order to define the taxonomy of subjects within the scope of the Colour Preference Questionnaire, the cluster analysis was performed. To identify the isolated clusters, the canonical discriminant analysis was applied, in which cluster affiliation was the criterion variable, and the predictors were subjects’ responses on the Colour Preference Questionnaire. Subsequently, in order to examine the personality differences between the identified clusters, the canonical discriminant analysis was applied, with the colour preference related cluster affiliation as the criterion variable and the factor scores on the first principal components

of the short form of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire as the predictors. RESULTS To define the taxonomy of subjects within the scope of the Colour Preference Questionnaire and the short form of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire, the cluster analysis was performed. Ward’s hierarchical clustering method was performed first in order to define the number of clusters to be kept. The dendrogram showed the solutions with two and three clusters to be acceptable. Then, the non-hierarchical K-means clustering method with two- and three-cluster solutions was applied. The two-cluster solution was found the most suitable for interpretation, and therefore it was used in further analyses. Colour preference differences between the groups (clusters) The discriminant analysis was applied to identify the isolated clusters, with cluster affiliation as the criterion variable and the subjects’ answers on the Colour Preference Questionnaire as the predictors (Table2).

Table 2 Discriminant Function Significance (Eigenvalues and Wilks’ Lambda) Specific root

% of the variance

Canonicalcorrelation

Wilks’ Lambda

Chi square (x2)

df

p

2.294

100.0

.834

.304

116.814

8

.000

The first isolated discriminative function was statistically significant at the significance level of p