How did the historical depiction influence modern perception, physical and psychological response to colour pink?
I strongly believe, that colour is a very powerful tool and should be chosen accordingly to the use of the interior in order to take advantage of their abilities on the mind.
This is due to various studies which show that colour affects us psychologically and physically, provoking different reactions and emotions which could be aggressive or rather calming depending on the colour as well as its shade. It also has the ability to affect our productivity, creativity and stimulate mind, therefore, may have impact on our mental health and personal growth in the long run, for instance; colour affecting our productivity would be highly beneficial in offices, whereas those with calming abilities could perhaps help calm anxiety. That said, in this essay I will identify and examine the effect of the most controversial colour on the human brain – pink.
To clarify, I am fully aware that colour’s effect on certain individuals may vary depending on their preferences and memories assembled with a certain colour such as childhood memories, however, whether associated with memories or not, various experiments prove that colour does in fact affect us both psychologically as well as physically.
I will therefore in this essay focus a bit on the history of pink and how our way of perceiving pink has changed throughout history, what notions and emotions pink is mostly associated with, study experiments regarding its impact on our mind, physical strength and supporters of this theory as well as those who argue against it. Lastly, and in the context of the above mentioned critical conversations, I will examine the use of pink in interiors today.
Today, pink is strongly associated with girls and perceived as weak which according to Annmaerie Adams (an architectural historian) is caused by the World War II events (Adams, 2010). Adams claims that the strong link between pink and girls has only began after the World War II with the influence of the Nazis (Adams, 2010).
According to Adams, before World War II especially during the times of World War I, pink was reserved for boys while blue for girls (Adams, 2010), and it was the Nazi’s who changed our way of perceiving it through a colour coding system of which pink was used to identify homosexuals (Adams, 2010). Since then, pink began to be highly avoided by boys and seen as a weakness, therefore, more feminine, and by the 1950’s new-borns were labelled through pink and blue blankets on the beds; that is pink for girls, blue for boys (Adams, 2010). In effect, as through the years we were taught to believe that pink is a girly colour which in fact is just the matter of its history.
Pink is also described as sweet (Birren, 2016), and highly associated with softness, love, romance, pleasure and desire, therefore, commonly used in designing interiors such as candy shops, ice cream shops and renting apartments. According to Levy, in general use, it is not a commonly used colour, however, it is indeed often a popular choice by designers in completing eateries (Levy, 2019). Furthermore, Goldstein has noted, that it is also stimulating to young minds ‘…pink. These colors are stimulating to young minds and are favorable for ”emotionally determined actions,” as Goldstein has noted’ (Birren, 2016, p 3819).
If this theory is correct, then it’s use in the interiors used by young individuals would benefit their lives on daily basis including personal growth and education; that is for instance in their bedrooms or schools, however, having the stereotype and strong link between pink and weakness how many young individuals would have the confidence to choose pink for their bedroom? Other than stimulating young minds, according to studies done by Alexander Schauss pink also has extremely high calming abilities and with his influence and suggestion, pink has begun to be used as a ‘weapon’ in prison cells with the intention of calming the aggressive inmates (Alter, 2013). Since this project was successful, the idea of pink within interiors has gone onto a larger scale and people begun to use it with good as well as bad intentions.
So the question is, does pink itself affect us psychologically or is it purely the matter of humiliation since it’s perceived as weak? According to Alexander Schauss research, it seems to be that it does indeed affect us not only psychologically, but also physically. Even though Schauss did not always find supporting evidence from his experiments, he continued to test his theory and is still convinced that pink does indeed have a calming effect (Alter, 2013). In one of his experiments, Schauss intended to find out, whether pink has the ability to affect our body strength, and his experiment setup featured as follows; ‘…experiment featuring 153 healthy young men, a researcher, two large pieces of coloured cardboard, and a well-lit lab.’ (Alter, 2013 p 1).
He divided the men into two groups of which half were to stare at a bright pink cardboard, and the rest at deep blue. After a minute has passed, he instructed them to raise their arms in front of their bodies, and applied pressure to see whether they can resist it, and as they recovered their strength he repeated the experiment. As a result, he found out that 2 men staring at the pink cardboard were dramatically weaker, therefore, came up with another more accurate experiment to prove that it wasn’t just luck (Alter, 2013).
That is; ‘This time he used a more accurate measure of strength, asking the thirty-eight male participants to squeeze a measurement device known as a dynamometer’ (Alter, 2013, p 2), and as a result, without fail, all of the participants have squeezed the dynamometer weaker after staring at the pink cardboard. Other than those, it happened to be that Mr California has performed several biceps curls however struggled when intended to do only one straight after staring at a pink cardboard (Alter, 2013).
Having all those results, is when Schauss suggested that if pink has calming abilities, why not use that knowledge and apply it in prison cells? In effect, two officers at the US Naval Correctional Center in Seattle, Washington, have chosen one cell for repainting into bright pink (Drunk Tank Pink also known as Baker-Miller pink) which was produced by mixing one pint of semi-gloss red trim paint along with one gallon of white ‘…Baker-Miller pink was originally produced by mixing one pint of outdoor semi-gloss red trim paint and one gallon of pure white indoor latex paint’ (Genschw, 2014, p. 482). For seven months, the commander Captain Ron Miller along with Chief Warrant Officer Gene Baker have observed aggressive inmates enter the pink cell and calm down within a fifteen minute average time, and not one violent incident was reported during the observatory seven month period (Alter, 2013). Having those results, other facilities around the country have begun to use the same strategy and paint special holding cells to the same shade of pink; that is for instance the detention centre in San Jose, California (Alter, 2013). I
nspired by the previous results, the outcome of their project have only clarified what has already been established; young inmates were so weakened by the pink that their visit had to be very limited ‘…some of the younger inmates were so weakened by the pink cell that their exposure had to be limited to just a few minutes a day.’ (Alter, 2013, p 2). As smaller jails have begun to repeat their strategy of pink holding cells, the colour was unofficially christened ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ (Alter, 2013, p 2).
At one point in the early 1980’s, Schauss discovery and strategy begun to inspire more population and been used on a greater scale, that is for instance by psychiatrists, doctors, dentists, teachers, private homes, buses and United Way charity (Alter, 2013). Today, in Switzerland almost every fifth police station or prison includes at least one detention cell (Genschw, 2014). His discovery was believed to be so accurate and beneficial, that begun to be used with not only good intentions; football. American coaches made a move towards weakening their opponents, by painting their locker rooms in the shade of the Drunk Tank Pink (Alter, 2013). Today, it is forbidden to do so, and both locker rooms must remain the same colour.
Since pink is one of the most controversial colours, some theorists have attempted to argue that Schauss findings were incorrect, while others supported his theory. For instance, Oliver Genchow has analysed Schauss experiments and argues that even though Schauss experiments suggest that pink has a strength reducing effect, some methodological concerns appear and doubt his theory (Genschw et al., 2014). According to Genchow, Schauss experiments (1979, 1981) cannot be ruled out for several reasons, for instance, first, he says, ‘… because the experimenter does not seem to have been blind to the hypothesis and conditions.’ (Genschw et al., 2014, p. 483), secondly, because the order of the colour presentation was not counterbalanced, and lastly he claims that the effects of all three studies are weak (Genschw et al., 2014).
That said, he repeated Schauss experiments but rather in a more controlled manner and with a larger precision to detail at the Swiss maximum-security penitentiary, where his method and procedure was approved by The ethics committee of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (Genschw et al., 2014). 59 male inmates who violated prison regulations through alcohol and drug abuse, possession of weapons, threatening, assaulting and many other, with an age ranging from 19 to 46 and their approval was randomly assigned to either pink or white detention centre (Genschw et al., 2014). Before the actual experiment guards began by filling out questionnaires studied by the researchers regarding the first five inmates and their own observations; those were then discussed and compared (Genschw et al., 2014). In result, there was not one specific observation but rather different outcomes; some data showed no influence of colour on inmates, some decrease in aggression and some an increase (Genschw et al., 2014).
The actual experiment took place from the 9th of January 2012, until the 28th of July 2013, as guards observed the inmates (Genschw et al., 2014). In total, four cells were used of which two cells were completely covered in Baker-Miller pink, and two remained natural; that is white walls, and light grey flooring (Genschw et al., 2014). Observational data was covered by the guard in charge from the moment an inmate has walked into the detention cell regarding his aggression level, and all inmates participating in the experiment stayed in the cell for at least three days, while some stayed longer (Genschw et al., 2014). The observation ended within the three days observatory period with another statement regarding aggression level (Genschw et al., 2014).
Aggressive behaviour was categorized through the use of an Overt Aggression Scale using a 1 to 7 scale to indicate how often aggressive behaviour was noticed; 0 meaning not at all, 7 very often, and the type of aggressive behaviour noticed; verbal aggression, physical aggression against self, physical aggression against object and physical aggression against other people (Genschw et al., 2014). As a result of this experiment neither age, nationality, reason for being in the cell, nor pleasantness through daily contact had impact on any noticeable effect (Genschw et al., 2014). Even though no supporting evidence was found, it is still believed that that Baker-Miller pink might have the potential in reducing aggressiveness, however, in this particular study, such result has not been detected.
Gilliam and Unruh (1988), Schwartz, Harrop, Love, Marchand, & Read, (1983) and Pellegrini, Schauss, Kerr, & You, (1981) also attempted to repeat Schauss experiments, however, failed to find supportive evidence (Genschw et al., 2014). Unlike Schauss, Gilliam and Unruh (1988) when repeating Schauss experiment, exposed their participants to white and pink cards (Genschw et al., 2014), instead of pink and blue, and monitored their blood pressure, pulse-rate, grip strength and response speed. They found, that notable results were only found in the less important measure; Digital-Symbol (Genschw et al., 2014).
Still, there are other theorists who managed to find supportive results, such as Pellegrini et al. (1981), who found much less aggressive behaviour of inmates within pink prison cells, compared to the white ones (Genschw et al., 2014). Even though supporting evidence was found, because the experiment was done over the period of two years, some argue that it cannot be fully considered, as the supporting results might have only been caused by the differences between the two years ‘…the effect might just be due to differences between the two years, because participants were not randomly assigned to the experimental conditions…’(Genschw et al., 2014, 483). In addition, many factors that could have had impact on the inmates behavioural change are unknown, for instance their background, activities or personnel (Genschw et al., 2014), therefore, those findings cannot be fully considered, ‘Unfortunately, several shortcomings restrict the interpretation of this finding’ (Genschw et al., 2014, p 483).
As we discussed before, in many cases pink is also associated with softness and described as sweet (Birren, 2016), therefore, today found in interiors with the concept and purpose to create an adequate atmosphere and evoke appropriate emotions. Even though as looking through design and architecture magazines colours tend to repeat in my opinion, and pink isn’t one of them, I do strongly believe that we are progressing in the acceptance of pink since it does occur from time to time. Motín coffee shop in Mexico designed by Futura (Cogley, 2019), and Ecnesse beauty salon in China designed by Penda China (Levy, 2019) even though both serve a completely different purpose, both are amazing examples of successfully designed interiors with the intention of communicating the concept of cosiness, sweetness and softness.
Similarly, since pink is highly associated with women, it is also used in projects to reflect on the feminine sensitivity and delicacy, for example by the Wutopia Lab studio in Shenzhen who explore constructions around gender (Block, 2018). In some cases, it is also associated with pleasure, desire, and affection (Birren, 1978) in spaces such as renting apartments, for instance the Minimal Fantasy holiday apartment in Madrid by Patricia Bustos Studio (Levy, 2020), who have designed this rentable apartment with the intention of differentiating themselves from their competitors what proves, that it is not a commonly used colour ‘We wanted to do something eye-catching and not go unnoticed, since in Madrid the offer of vacation rentals is enormous and you have to differentiate yourself if you want to have a recurrence in the rentals’ said the Studio to one of their magazine interviews (Levy, 2020). With the use of 12 different shades of pink, they achieved a strong, creative, and eye catching effect (Levy, 2020). The studio continued ‘”Pink is already the colour of a whole generation… the generation of the brave, those who are not afraid of change,”’ (Levy, 2020), which makes me convinced even more in my opinion that people are simply afraid of pink due to it’s weakening associations, therefore, it’s high potential becomes unnoticed by many since ignored. In effect, some tend to stick to those colours that make them feel safe and keep in the comfort zone, however, as Birren said, no one of admirable character should be upset by such colour ‘No one of sound and admirable character should be upset by an innocuous color such as pink!’ (Birren, 1978, p 121). Lastly, pink has also been used in spaces of an entirely different character such as the Humble Pizza in King’s Cross by Child studio with the concept of emulating the aesthetic of workmen’s cafes ‘…commonly known as greasy spoons…’ (Levy, 2019) In fact, Humble Pizza is also vegan, therefore, pink in this case also successfully accompanies the pure intentions of animal lovers and pink associated with innocence, sensitivity and delicacy. Another great example is the Cats’ Pink House in Taiwan by KC Design Studio with the concept of making it relaxing and fun using different shades of pink for the entire interior (Block, 2020). This shows, that with the right mind, imagination, and palette, pink can be successfully applied to more than one type of interior and has an extremely high potential in creating many effects.
Although some attempted to test Schauss theory, regardless of the validity of his experiments, they have raised the relevant debates, and had influenced the discussion on colour and its effect. It brings forth the issue of the sensitive and ambiguous limitations of the scientific methods, when they touch upon design issues, where complex parameters involving cultural/ historical/ social/ political connotations play a significant role. Even though Schauss theory is challenged by many and perhaps some prove him wrong such as Oliver Genschow (Genschow et al., 2014), it does not change the fact that whether it affects us physically and psychologically due to cultural connotations or simply memories assembled with a certain colour, it still does either way. That said, some experiments cannot be successfully repeated simply because we do not repeat them with the same individuals, therefore, the results may vary. Still, Schauss findings led to exceptional and highly influential projects such as previously discussed pink prison cells, therefore, colour should definitely be highly considered before applying in interiors to make sure the user of the space takes full advantages of the colour’s abilities.
