Foundational study · relates to Red, Black, White
Affective meanings of color recur across 23 communities
The finding
Cited claimAdams and Osgood (1973) used the semantic-differential method across 23 language-culture communities and found recurring affective structure: red was the most salient color and rated strong and active; black and grey were evaluated as bad; white, blue, and green as good; brightness tracked positive evaluation. After reviewing 89 prior studies, they concluded there are strong universal trends in color affect. This is the historical backbone of the whole field and of this collection.
Why it is in the collection
SignificanceThe earliest large cross-cultural demonstration that color affect is not arbitrary; every later finding is read against it.
Evidence type
How we knowGrade A. Cross-cultural semantic-differential study, peer-reviewed.
Source
1 reference- Adams, F. M., & Osgood, C. E. (1973). A Cross-Cultural Study of the Affective Meanings of Color. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 4(2), 135-156. peer reviewed
https://doi.org/10.1177/002202217300400201
Cite this case record
Stable ID GCMD-C04Chen, Chloe. “Affective meanings of color recur across 23 communities.” Record GCMD-C04, Global Color Meaning Database (Suse), 2026. Accessed [date]. https://globalcolormeaning.org/entries/gcmd-c04.html.
The identifier GCMD-C04 is permanent: it does not change if the record text is revised. For an empirical number, also cite the underlying study listed below. See the how-to-cite page for full guidance.