Hue Heat
Experiments show we recognize imperceivable dualities and opposites, such as blue versus hot and red versus cold. We identify more closely with a hot blue object than a hot red one and a cold red object more than a cold blue one.
The hue heat hypothesis demonstrates how we consider certain qualities to be opposites even though we shouldn’t think of them as opposites based on experience, and how it can influence our behavior (Bellia et al. 2019):
“The Hue Heat Hypothesis (HHH) is based on the idea that light and colours of the environment can affect thermal perception and influence thermal comfort. Specifically, it states that, when spectral power distribution of light reaching an observer’s eye is characterized by long wavelengths in the visible spectrum, the space is perceived as warmer; conversely, when small wavelengths are predominant, the space is perceived as cooler.”
Experiments show people will hold a hot blue vessel longer than a hot red one and a cold red vessel longer than a cold blue one (Ziat et al. 2016). Blue coloration perceptually counteracts or moderates heat, and red counteracts coldness, meaning hot and blue are opposites in the mind, or psychological opposites, as predicted based on semantic and other…
