Why Women Seem More Attuned to Color
Purple or Lilac?
Ask a man the same question, and you are likely to hear "isn't is purple?"
Why do all the shades of purple seem to have been created exclusively for women who seem more attuned to color?
Are there biological and social reasons for this phenomenon?
Biological
To understand any biological reasons for why women seem more attuned to color, you first have to understand what color vision is.
Briefly, "normal" color vision is made possible by 3 types of cone cells in the eyes which have photopigments which respond to the absorption of light. These responses of photopigment to varying wavelengths of light make it possible to see different colors.
It is the presence of a 4th photopigment, found in 50% of women studied, that seems to offer a biological reason for why women seem more attuned to color.
This 4th photopigment would allow for greater responses to different wavelengths of light and therefore increase the varieties of color that women could see.
Although intriguing, this theory of a 4th photopigment still seems overshadowed by factors other than biological ones. Just because it's shown that little girls can perceive color better than little boys doesn't prove that a 4th photopigment is responsible.
Social
While the biological evidence for why women seem more attuned to color seems less than certain, there can be no doubt that any social evidence regarding the same phenomenon is based entirely on stereotyping.
Isn't it true that women express a greater fondness for colorful things because they associate this with being feminine? Women might seem more attuned to color because they've been liberated to be that way.
Men, on the other hand, may have the same biological capacity to recognize shades of color.
But because of the stereotypical perception of "flamboyance" and "artistic flair," they are conceivably reluctant to admit it.
Still, while social reasons for why women seem more attuned to color appear more stereotypically predominant, they still don't actually prove that women have this ability.
In sum, if you ask a woman what her favorite shade of purple is, she's likely to respond with lavender or lilac. Ask the man the same thing, and he might ignore the question.
Whether biological or social reasons, however, offer the most evidence for why women seem more attuned to color still remains to be seen.
Source: Cognitive Daily
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/07/do_women_perceive_color_differ_3.php
Published by Dan Reveal
Come walk with me. I'll share my umbrella. View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentGood job :)
Excellent!
I think you have some good points on this, Dan, cheers
excellent ♥ thanks for sharing
Great work Dan, thanks!
Wow, this is so interesting. Purple is my favorite color but some of the shades I like better than the rest... :o)
Very well written. Thanks!
Interesting article
Do men really care? It depends. Let my husband start talking about colors for scale ship or armor modeling, and there is a lot a hairsplitting among the color basics. Tiny color spectrum differences that I really don't understand. I think it just depends on the topic & level of involvement, for men or women.
I also noticed that more men are color blind than women but you know, women DO care about the way colors look more like Abby said. :-)