A Sensory Engineering Study on the Impact of Warm and Cool Color Posters on College Students Emotions

Abstract

This study is based on the theory of human engineering psychology and explores the mechanism by which cool and warm color posters affect the emotions of college students. Through the combination of experimental methods and scale measurement, 60 college students were selected as participants. Cool color (blue, green) and warm color (red, yellow) posters were randomly presented to them, and their emotional responses were collected. The SAM scale (Self-Assessment Manikin) was used to assess the degree of pleasure, arousal, and dominance, and skin conductance response (GSR) was used to obtain physiological indicators to enhance the objectivity of the study. The results showed that warm color posters significantly enhanced the arousal and pleasure of college students, especially under the red stimulus, with the highest level of emotional activation. While cool color posters significantly reduced arousal and brought a more calm and relaxed emotional experience. The blue tone was the most effective in alleviating anxiety. Gender and professional background have a moderating effect on color perception. Women are more sensitive to the emotional responses to cool and warm colors, and students majoring in art design have a higher recognition and emotional response intensity of color differences than non-art majors. This study verified the applicability of color emotional effects in the college student population and expanded the application boundaries of human engineering psychology in visual communication design. The research suggests that in college mental health publicity and campus environment design, scientific application of color psychology principles should be adopted, and appropriate colors should be selected according to different emotional regulation goals to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of emotional intervention. In the future, neuroscientific methods such as electroencephalogram (EEG) can be further introduced to deeply reveal the neural basis of the color emotional mechanism.