Of course you wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t interested in pink laptops but have you ever wondered why pink is such a cool colour?
Pink for Girls, Blue for Boys?
We have become accustomed to the idea that boys prefer blue and girls favour pink but is there any foundation to this notion and do we just like pink because we have grown up with the idea?
Since the 1920’s the colour pink has been associated with a particular gender though, surprisingly, it was originally a boys colour and it wasn’t until the 1940’s that the colour became to be associated with girls?
The Science Bit
A recent study carried out at Newcastle University addressed this question and the results were rather controversial.
The study looked at the colour preferences of men and women and found that although both sexes prefer the colour blue, men favour a pure blue and women are drawn towards reddish-blues such as lilac or mauve.
Although cultural influences could not be entirely ruled out, the authors of the study suggested that this natural colour preference could be explained by evolutionary influences.
One of the study’s authors, Anya Hurlbert, surmised that we have a natural inclination to the colour blue as it indicates good weather and is also a sign of a good water source.
As for the pinkish preference, it is pretty well accepted idea that men were traditionally the hunters and women were the gatherers.
The affinity with the colour red can be thus explained by the theory that in order to distinguish between ripe and non-ripe fruit such as berries then women developed an innate preference for reddish tones?
Conclusions
Hurlbert accepted that cultural influences could not be ruled but concluded that colour preference is primarily governed by sensory encoding and is, to an extent, predictable.
So there you have it – girls really do like pink. But didn’t you know this already?
Useful Links
- ‘Women may be hardwired to prefer pink’ – New Scientist
- Pink, pink, pink, pink. Pink moan – Bad Science
- ‘Biological Components of Sex Differences in Color Preference’ (pdf) – Anya C. Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling
- Pink – Wikipedia
- Pink or Blue: Environmental gender stereotypes in the first two years of life – Journal article
- Pink the Colour – H2G2