Can Pink Really Pacify?

Abstract

<p><a href="http://home.design.iastate.edu/FACULTY/jenirish.php">As an interior designer</a>, I’ve long been interested in how different colors can affect our mood and behavior.</p> <p>For example, if you’ve recently been to a fast food restaurant, you might notice that there’s a lot of red – <a href="https://cdinduluth.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/d1fe1-burger-king_image-2.jpg?w=648">red chairs</a> and <a href="http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/food-drink/2017/06/15/wendys-in-epic-ongoing-sign-war-with-rival-across-street/_jcr_content/par/featured_image/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1497468826427.jpg?ve=1&tl=1">red signs</a>, <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g56133-d3366459-Reviews-In_N_Out_Burger-Lancaster_Texas.html">red trays</a> and <a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRb4u6BZWeacsYFQJ6vwt0CH-xH5FKJkvN9vZE92wl4qtB4FId5dQ">red cups</a>.</p> <p>When, on the other hand, was the last time you ate in a blue restaurant?</p> <p><a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/00251740610673332">There’s a reason for this</a>: Red, it turns out, has been shown to stimulate the appetite. Blue, on the other hand, has been shown to be an appetite suppressant.</p> <p>But when it comes to interior design, the color pink has been particularly controversial.</p> <p>After some psychologists were able to show that certain shades of pink reduced aggression, it was famously used in prison cells to limit aggression in inmates. Yet pink toes a shaky line. Is it a benign means of subtle manipulation? A tool to humiliate? An outgrowth of gender stereotyping? Or some combination of the three?</p>