Anxious to Depressed - Cool & Warm Colours in the Office

Kwallek, N., Lewis, C. M., & Robbins, A. S. (1988). Effects of office interior color on workers' mood and productivity. Perceptual And Motor Skills, 66(1), 123-128. doi:10.2466/pms.1988.66.1.123

Nancy Kwallek from the University of Texas researches the Effects of Interior Environments on Individuals with concentration on the ambiance of colour on office workers. Kwallek’s background experience involves extensive research for interior design and this article focuses specifically on an interior's colour on mood and productivity. The experiments focused specifically on the effects of red and blue on tasks and mood. Through a twenty minute typing exercise thirty-six participants worked in either red or blue rooms. After subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire addressing the eight categories of: anxiety, stress, depression, regression, fatigue, guilt, extraversion, and arousal - in relation to their work experience in the designated room. Participants were then moved or stayed in their original rooms to complete another typing exercise followed again by the questionnaire. Correlations between arousal was noticed for participants who switched offices. Anxiety and depression played a unique role - being associated with red and blue and participants noticed significant differences when working between the two coloured rooms. Effects were also noted in those who made a switch between rooms which resulted in high levels of anxiety and were more prone to making errors. However, the group that moves from blue to red made a significantly greater number of errors than red to blue, red to red, and blue to blue. The results do suggest a correlation between warm and cooler tones with ties to anxiety and depression. The research shows little bias, drawing heavily on external references. Based on the level of difficulty, the style and vocabulary would make this article of high interest to any reader. Due to small nature of the article, it is also important to draw further on the references mentioned.