Details of Research Outputs

Inspired by Kandinsky's original postulation of specific color-shape association preferences in human beings (i.e., blue circle, red square and yellow triangle), extensive literature from diverse cultural backgrounds has re-examined this issue and achieved a consensus on the existence of such preferences, yet there is disagreement on the specific association patterns. In this study, we investigated the association between color and basic geometric shapes among Chinese college students. Correspondence analysis revealed that both circles and triangles are highly associated with yellow. Circles are also associated with red, while squares exhibit a strong association with blue. Additionally, we confirmed Kandinsky's theory that the angular characteristics of shapes affect the choice of warm and cold colors assigned to them. Interestingly, neither personality traits nor affect states affect the color-shape association preference despite their influences on either color or shape preference alone. Our findings suggest that people may share universal aesthetic preferences to a certain extent. These results have implications for future product design and generative art, where color and shape are crucial elements for visual communication.