Сolors of health and sickness: sociocultural research of associative connections

The purpose of the study is to analyze the chromatic image of the concepts of health and disease, visualization of the resulting color associations and their cultural examination. The study was conducted using an experimental method, the toolkit of which was tested during a pilot phase in Sweden and Nepal. The participants in the experiment were to find the most suitable color associations for the proposed concepts. The experiment palette contained 27 color samples developed using the Natural Color System (NCS). All color samples were presented to each participant in the experiment at the same time against a light gray background under natural daylight conditions. The study involved 100 Russian-speaking respondents (36 men and 64 women) aged from 17 to 80 years old (average age 23.73). None of the participants had problems with color perception and color discrimination. The most robust associations with the tone for the concept of health were found in the green, orange, yellow and red parts of the spectrum. With the concept of the disease most often associated green-yellow, yellow and achromatic shades. The colors of health were formed solely by pure and light shades, while among the colors of the disease mostly dark colors dominated. We have fixed a distinct boundary between achromatic color associations. All participants who associated the presented concepts with achromatic colors associated health with white, and illness with black or gray. The study has broad prospects for further development on the material of other cultures and significant applied potential.