Colour Preferences of the Young (Early 20th Century)

	1st	2nd	3rd
Pre-Adolescent
School Children
Post-Adolescent

Approximations of colours used in the study.

Serious statistical studies in colour preference were begun early in the 20th century. Researchers, found that the very young tended to like the brightest hues, such as Yellow and Orange. With schooling came a repression of freedom which was reflected in preferences for Blue particularly. However, more mature students tended to prefer Green.

Colour Preferences of the Young (Swiss - 1953)

	Liked ------------------------------------------- Disliked
School Children

Dr Walter Furrer used the Lüscher Test to arrive at the sequence above, showing that Swiss children prefered Magenta, called Violet in the Test, and the four 'Ground Colours' of the Test tended to be liked next best. The least liked colours being Brown, Grey and Black.(FURRER 1953 p154)

Many early studies were described by Dr. Parsons in 1915. Professor Valentine gave the sequence from first preference to last of an eight and a half month child as being from yellow, to white or pink, and to red, and then brown or black to blue or green and lastly violet. (VALENTINE 1914) Later, a study of colour preferences of school children and of college students was published by S.E. Katz in 1922. He found that blue was the most frequently preferred colour at any age and in all grades from kindergarten to college, 47% of children choosing this colour. Green was a distant second, red a close third, followed by violet and yellow, then finally orange. This strongly reflects what one might expect in such a disciplinary era. As children grew up there was a rise for the preference of green and violet and a decline in the interest in red, orange and yellow, although red was more favoured in the poorer neighbourhoods in the earlier years of childhood. No difference was found in the preferences of boys and girls.