Just as it is for most people in college, there are days where my emotions are all over the board, as an outcome of too much work, too little sleep, and a lot of change. If there was a way to help yourself on one of your moody days, would you take advantage of it?

Studies have been showing that the color of the clothes you wear, whether you realize it or not, will have an affect on your mood throughout the day. According to one study, if you wear a red shirt to class, for example, it will “evoke avoidance motivation and undermine intellectual performance” (Elliot and Maier). This means that wearing red helps us to avoid negative stimuli throughout our day, and focus more on the positive. Along with this, it is easier to perform intellectually without stressing about it.

Red isn’t the only color of clothing, though, that can help a person to change their mood. According to “research done at the University of British Columbia…because people associate blue with openness and peace, they feel safer exploring their ideas when they’re surrounded by [blue]” (Bowers). Along with this, pink often makes a person feel more sophisticated, yellow makes a person feel happier, and purple makes a person feel more powerful (Wright). All colors can give off different moods for different people, but these are just some examples.

With this research, however, not many experiments or research has proven that every color has the same meaning or feeling for every person. While some people believe that the brain is what determines the meaning of a color, the more popular idea is that the perception of a color’s mood is based upon culture, and what an individual has learned to believe as he or she grows (social sciences). One study, for example, involved participants that were both British and Chinese. Every person was given 20 color swatches at a time and had to rate it the color on 10 different emotions. From the experiment, they gathered that the British and Chinese participants greatly “differed on the like-dislike scale” (Kauppinen-Raisanen). From this study and multiple similar studies, many researchers have gathered that the way a person sees a color’s emotions does have a lot to do with the society in which he or she grows up. But whether it is something in the brain that causes us to be influenced by the color of our clothing, or it is simply something that we learn to feel, color still has the ability to affect how we feel.

So next time you’re feeling down and you think about putting on a neutral color, think twice and throw on something with a little more vibrancy! Because according to science, your clothing really can have an effect on your mood! Whether you’re having a day where you’re wanting to feel happy, calm, sexy, or in charge, the color of clothing you decide to put on your body can help to influence that.