A Four-Dimensional Spherical Model of Interaction Between Color and Emotional Semantics

Abstract

Background. Te color and emotional systems are classical research objects in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, but the interrelations between them, especially at the semantic level, are poorly understood. Te multidimensional approach, developed in E.N. Sokolov’s “vector psychophysiology” school of thought, permits the solution of this important problem. Objective. To carry out a psychophysical study of the interaction between color and emotions at the semantic level, through the analysis of subjective multidimensional spaces. Design. Te stimuli were the Russian names of 10 basic colors and 10 basic emotions. 102 participants used a scale from 1 to 9 to evaluate subjective diferences in all possible combinations of color–color, emotion–emotion, and color–emotion. A 10×10 color submatrix, 10×10 emotion submatrix, and 20×20 full color–emotion matrix were processed by multidimensional scaling. Results. Te subjective spaces extracted from the color and emotion submatrices were found to be four-dimensional and spherical. Te model of color semantics features two chromatic (“Red-Green” and “Blue-Yellow”) and two achromatic (“Semantic Brightness” and “Contrast Grey”) opponent axes. Te model of emotional semantics features two basic (“Valence” and “Arousal”) and two social (“Dominance” and “Social Rejection”) opponent axes. Te integral color-emotional space also was found to be four-dimensional and spherical, featuring combined color-emotional axes. Conclusion. Te interaction between color and emotional semantics can be described with a four-dimensional spherical model, proving that E.N. Sokolov’s universal spherical model can adequately describe the processes of intermodal integration at the semantic level.

Keywords

• color
• emotion
• semantics
• multidimensional scaling
• spherical model
• afective circumplex
• vector psychophysiology