Well, it might at least make you less stressed if you look at it enough! The color pink is associated with peace, love, friendship, compassion, relaxation, gentle emotions and unions. It is said that people who love the color pink are either looking for or are already in a state of peacefulness or bliss. They try to see and bring out the best in others.

Can these qualities be acquired by being exposed to the color pink?
Maybe. Several years ago, a couple of universities in the US painted the locker rooms used by visiting sports teams pink (causing much controversy) in the belief that it would have a calming and passive effect on the team members. And there might actually be some truth to that little snippet of color psychology. Dr. Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma Washington states that: “Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he can’t. The heart muscles can’t race fast enough. It’s a tranquilizing color that saps your energy. Even the color-blind are tranquilized by pink rooms.” (Maybe that’s why there are so few pink gaming laptops!) Unfortunately, these reactions apparently do not last. Once you get used to being surrounded by pink, your body returns to its normal self.

Why Do Almost All Girls And Women Like Pink?
Interestingly enough, it might be in our genes! In a research project conducted by Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling, neuroscientists at Newcastle University in England, it was discovered that women were far more likely than men to choose blue shades with more red mixed in (i.e. towards the pink end of the spectrum), and more likely to reject the more green and yellow hues.

Hurlbert and Ling asked more than 200 British men and women to choose between colors on a computer screen. To make sure that the outcome was not a result of being brought up in a “blue for boys, pink for girls” society, they also tested a group of Chinese volunteers. Although more participants in this group preferred red (it is a lucky color in China after all), the difference was still there – the women chose more of the blue-red shades.

The results suggest that there actually is a biological reason why women prefer pink. One thought is that this could have evolved over time because of the role women played in the family; men hunted and women gathered food, and needed to find ripe berries and fruits. Another theory is that as caretakers, women had to be able to recognize if a child was ill, with a high fever (face turning red) for example.

Pretty fascinating stuff. I hope they continue their research, I’d love hear what else they find. In the meantime, I will look at my pink laptop or one of my pink laptop bags whenever I feel stressed and see what happens.