Could Emotional Intelligence and Period of Year Influence Clothing Color Selection?

Abstract

Human emotional intelligence manages one’s own emotions and determines appropriate behavior in social life. This study investigates whether emotional intelligence and period influence the factors of clothing color selection. Different frameworks and situations were represented, and they were limited to regular examination periods for college students. The purpose of the study was to compare and evaluate how the tension factor, which is generally expected to increase during the examination period, makes a difference in the choice of clothing color. Experiment 1 was conducted during the regular period (n = 103) and the examination period (n = 107). Analysis of the collected data for the 13 hues showed a significant increase in the percentage of G (green) and W (white) jackets during the examination period. Conversely, the use of N (gray) and Bk (black) decreased significantly. In Experiment 2, we investigated the reasons for the choice of clothing color. In the regular period, the main reasons for choosing the color of clothing were the person’s preference (23.8%). However, 70.6% of the subjects in the examination period cited their mood, compared to 4.8% in the regular period. These findings suggest that the difference in the choice of clothing color in both periods could be influenced by emotional intelligence.

1. Introduction

People have the opportunity to choose and decide their own actions in every situation. In such cases, they may choose to collect a large amount of information, or they may choose according to their own moods and feelings. High emotional intelligence enriches people’s lives [1]. Understanding one’s current situation and having an accurate grasp of one’s emotions leads to appropriate behavior [2]. Meyer [3] describes emotional intelligence as a capacity consisting of four aspects. The first is emotional perception, the second is emotional assimilation, the third is emotional understanding, and the fourth is emotional management. This chapter discusses the relationship between clothing color choice and emotional intelligence. Specifically, we investigated college students’ clothing color choices in two situations in their lives. While the regular period is characterized by neutral emotions, it is easy to imagine that the exam period elicits different emotions than the regular period, such as nervousness, to varying degrees related to the exam outcome of grades [4]. Therefore, we hypothesized that people would use their emotional intelligence to perform actions to correctly perceive and appropriately manage their emotions, i.e., that they would select clothing colors appropriate to the situation rather than perceive and appropriately manage their emotions. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to compare differences in clothing color choice during both periods.

In general, people have the opportunity to choose the color choice of their clothing, and their criteria vary from person to person. Daily clothing choices can be divided into three categories: (1) personal factors, (2) functional factors, and (3) social factors.

(1) Personal factors are fundamentally free from external constraints. Clothing is each person’s identity, preferences [5, 6, 7, 8], and own mood.

(2) Functional factors are influenced by seasons and weather. Specifically, people may give up wearing clothes made of water-sensitive materials or in water-sensitive colors during inclement weather, such as heavy rain.

(3) Social factors are elements of social constraints on clothing, indicated by codes such as TPO (Time, Place, Object principle) that are linked to the cultural background of a country or region. For example, there are color codes for ceremonial occasions. In some places, these codes are strict. At a Japanese wedding, it is taboo for the invited women to wear the same white color as the bride, and at a funeral, the color for attendants is black. The main factors in clothing selection are design (shape) and color (hue). Kashem [9] reports whether university students are influenced in their behavior by their teachers’ attire. Teachers who dress formally are respected by students and influence the educational environment. Related research has shown that women wearing masculine clothing during job interviews are more likely to be hired [10], whereas those wearing feminine clothing at work are considered inferior in ability. Glick et al. [11] reported that when college students were shown images of four kinds of managers and receptionists in either sexy or business-like fashion (based on two clothing conditions and two occupation conditions) and asked to rate each of them, they reported that their reaction was judged to be incompetent for managers wearing sexy fashion. These results suggest that sexy attire harms women in higher-status jobs but not women in lower-status jobs. In other words, this is an example of how TPO involving the same clothing style can have diametrically opposite impressions on different individuals and groups. The wearing of different colored clothes by the same person influenced the rating of likability by others. Those wearing yellow clothing were reported to be rated less favorably by others than those wearing other colors. As a result, when wearing yellow, the person’s evaluation became lower. In other words, this is an example of hues affecting other people’s evaluations [12]. The social factor provided by the presence of others and what people believe those others think of their clothes can affect judgment. People may choose their attire based more on the impression they think they cause on others than on their preferences because they may consider that the impression others have depends on the design and color of their clothing in formal situations. According to Ofori et al. [13], a survey of university students in Ghana to determine their level of appropriate knowledge about textiles and clothing found that 69% of students lacked knowledge about clothing choices, colors, and good attire. They also reported that 85% of students wear different clothing at home and at university, suggesting the educational system and religious and social pressures may be determining their choices.

According to Maeda and Noguchi [14], although there were some gender differences in the items that university students and the public place importance on when wearing clothing, >65% of respondents in the questionnaire regarded personal factors, such as design, as the most important factor related to clothes. The second major factor was social factors, such as location and opportunity, for ~46% of male students and 65% of general women. Weather, a functional factor, along with comfort, was ranked third by >40%, followed by size (approximately 35%), which is both a personal and functional factor. The physical condition was cited as a reason by less than 5% of the respondents, a minority. In terms of personal factors, some studies have investigated changes in physiological responses and task performance before and after wearing clothing [15]. For example, clothing one likes or dislikes has psychological and physiological effects, increasing amylase in saliva and stress scores. In a gender comparison of personal factors in clothing color selection, Karita and Murakami [16] reported that women tend to place more importance on “recommendation by others,” “esthetics,” and “moderation,” whereas men tend to assign much less value to these factors.

Several other studies have investigated changes in physiological responses and task performance before and after wearing clothing [17, 18]. In a study on the influence of color on athletic performance and task performance, the effect of color on athletic performance was examined in the Olympic martial arts performance of athletes wearing blue and red uniforms [19]. When competencies were very similar, the higher winning percentage of the red uniforms was associated with competition performance. A color mechanism to explain this result is that wearing red is reported to enhance testosterone, which is associated with dominance and aggression. Another study found that the clothing worn affected performance on a cognitive task, with subjects wearing a doctor’s white coat showing enhanced levels of sustained attention and an increased number of errors found in a choice task compared to those wearing regular clothing [17]. This suggested that the color of the clothing could increase performance. When looking at red in the context of achievement, some studies have reported that it affects performance on difficult tasks that require mental manipulation and flexibility [20, 21, 22]; Elliot et al. examined the effect of red and other color stimuli on task outcomes after showing participants red and other color stimuli and found that red performed worse on anagrams, analogies and math tasks compared to green and achromatic control color [20]. They reported that the reason for this red effect might be that red is associated with failure and danger [21]. However, regarding this red effect, Gnambs [22] conducted a meta-analysis of previous major studies on color and task performance. He found no effect for anagram and knowledge tests and reported a weak effect only for reasoning tasks, raising doubts about the actual color effect. Some studies have also reported the effects of blue compared to red and achromatic colors. Jung [23] found that in the different color conditions (blue, red, and achromatic), video viewers in the blue condition and their resulting word recognition task performance were better than those in the red condition, and further, word recognition task performance in the blue condition was better than word recognition task performance in the other color conditions.

Past research has investigated personal factors in clothing selection and its implications in fulfilling cognitive tasks; however, little of that research has reflected on the participants’ intentions in selecting clothes. Only a few studies have verified that participants make clothing color choices willingly under certain circumstances. No single factor determines color choices based on people’s situations. We can infer that color selection responds to a complex combination of personal, functional, and social factors and that the order of priority changes subject to time, place, and situation. Except in situations where the impression one makes on others is important, such as at work or in a job interview, personal factors such as preference and intentions, such as being in line with one’s own mood, are thought to take precedence.

Several studies on color and emotion have demonstrated that positive emotions make people choose brighter colors, while negative emotions make people prefer darker tones [24, 25, 26, 27]. Our physical and mental state, including mood and physical aspects, influence our behavior. In other words, if we consider this color choice in the same way as we consider color choice in clothing, we may choose brighter-colored clothing when we are in a positive mood. When we are in a negative mood, we may subconsciously want to wear darker colors. Jonausukaite et al. reported the correlation between color and mood [28], participants were first exposed to music and reading that induced four mental states: joy, relaxation, fear, and sadness. They then selected seven chromatic colors and achromatic colors on a display that were appropriate for that emotion. The results showed that warm colors, such as yellow, were associated with the sensation of joy. Saturated colors were also shown to correlate with joy and relaxation.

In terms of emotional intelligence, people strive to manage their behavior appropriately and keep it at its best. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effects of emotional intelligence and period on clothing color choice. Based on the above, Experiment 1 investigated university students’ clothing color at different time periods. Different periods may have different emotions, and we examined whether one’s cognition can manage these changes and choose clothing colors in line with one’s emotions; in other words, choose the appropriate behavior for that period. The subjects were university students, who are less likely to be influenced by social factors in their clothing choices. Naito [29] reported that university students tend to dress similarly to how they dress when going to school or to department stores and are less likely to be influenced by social influences. The periods were limited to university students’ regular periods and exam periods, when emotions were likely to change dramatically. We sought to compare and evaluate how the element of tension, which is generally expected to be heightened in exam period situations, makes a difference in color choice. In terms of tension, a study of psychological changes between regular periods and exam periods at a physical therapist training facility found that students tended to be more anxious and depressed during exam periods than during regular periods [4]. Another related study similarly found that students were more nervous and stressed during exam periods [30]. Interestingly, an Internet search for ways to relieve anxiety and tension during exam periods in Japanese yielded 324,000 hits [31].

Examination periods differ from regular school life in terms of mental and physical conditioning. While many people approach exams with the expectation of relieving pressure and anxiety, others approach exams as some sort of challenge to boost their mood and motivation. Based on the above, Hypothesis 1 clarifies whether the selection rate of the color of the clothing during regular and exam periods is different. For Hypothesis 2, based on anxious feelings during the exam period [30, 31] and previous research showing that negative feelings tend to choose darker colors [24, 25, 26, 27], it is decided to clarify whether the selection rate of the clothing color of the dark color will increase during the exam period. For this reason, we divided the data collection period into the regular period and the exam period. In Experiment 1, the method of data collection and the number of students differed during both periods. The PCCS199a color cards (hereafter referred to as “color cards”) were used to collect data during the regular period. The PCCS199a color cards are color cards based on the color scheme system of the Japan Color Research Institute. This color system represents colors in terms of hue and tone. Tone is a grouping of lightness and saturation, and colors that give the same impression are grouped together regardless of their hue. Students evaluated the color of their clothing and visually compared the color card that was closest to the color of their clothing. They then selected that color card and pasted it on the paper. In contrast, no cutting and pasting was done during the exam period. An answer about the color of the clothing was added to the end of the answer sheet for the medical color test question. The 3 cm square and PCCS symbols identical to those on the color card were printed on the answer sheet, and the participants were asked to write only the symbols in the answer box. This was done because we did not think it appropriate to use scissors or perform other detailed tasks in the tense situation of the test. However, since the task of selecting colors from the printed materials had been done during the previous regular period and was found to be an appropriate response for color selection, this method was used during the exam period. In addition, 103 subjects for the regular and exam periods were the same students, while four were present only during the exam period. Therefore, the data for both periods were analyzed by independent analysis with an unrepeated t-test and a chi-square test, rather than by within-subjects analysis.

In Experiment 2, we test whether the choice of clothing color has any relationship with emotion management in emotional intelligence. The aspects of emotional intelligence are: first, emotion perception; second, emotion assimilation; third, emotion comprehension; and fourth, emotion management. In this experiment, it is inferred that emotions differ significantly during different periods of time: regular college periods and exam periods. We will investigate what they used as the basis for their decisions to perceive, understand, and manage their emotions, taking appropriate actions. In other words, Hypothesis 3 reveals that emotional intelligence influences the behavior of clothing color selection. Specifically, participants were asked to recall scenes from the regular and test periods and were asked about the color of their clothing and the reason for their choice. Participants in Experiment 2 differed from those in Experiment 1. The participants who recalled scenes from the two periods were identical, and the method of analysis was independent analysis with a chi-square test.

2. Experiment 1

2.1 Methods

Two groups of students were selected covering the regular and examination periods: the regular period (103 students, 57 males, 46 females, M = 19.25, SD = ±0.81) and the examination period (108 students, 58 males, 50 females, M = 19.24, SD = ±0.87) from July to August 2018 who had taken “medical color,” which is a compulsory elective subject for university students. Information on the color of the upper and bottom clothing was collected, and clothing data from both periods were compared. Before the experiment, the participants were informed that the survey was being conducted strictly for research purposes and that their participation would not be related to their grades. The number of participants for each period differed because not all students attended during the regular period.

During the regular period, the weather conditions were cloudy skies, a temperature of 19°C, and a humidity of 82%. Participants first used a PCCS199a color card (hereafter referred to as a “color card”). Initially, they evaluated the color of their clothing, compared the most visually similar color card, and selected a color slip that approximated their clothing color. Next, the selected color chart was cut out into a 1-cm square and pasted on a questionnaire, and the PCCS symbol was entered in the bottom column. If the clothing color was multicolored, the color with the largest area was pasted. If the ratio was the same for the two colors, it was cut into half the size and pasted on the questionnaire.

During the examination period, the weather was sunny, with a temperature of 21°C and a humidity of 63%. Participants could confirm that there was no mistake in cutting, pasting, and entering the PCCS symbol in the regular period experiment; hence, the visual comparison of the samples with a color card was completed. The students were asked to fill in only the PCCS symbol in the answer column without cutting and pasting the results. The color card indicated was chosen because it is the most used color chart in Japanese educational settings, whereas the Munsell color system has many color cards. It was thought that it would be difficult for non-expert participants to use a different chart. The color card in this experiment facilitates the selection of 199 cards, making the color-matching process more manageable. The color data obtained for the upper and bottom clothing, identified as tones and color symbols of the PCCS color card, were converted into Munsell values.

2.2 Results

2.2.1 Differences in the hue of the clothing during the regular and examination periods

Using the Munsell values written on the color card for the brightness and saturation of clothing, we examined how much the upper and bottom clothing differed between the regular period and the examination period. The theoretical brightness of the Munsell values is 0–10, and the saturation is 0–14, but since the range is narrowed when it is a paper color sheet, the brightness is shown as 1–9.5, and the saturation is indicated by the Munsell value of 0–14. The difference between the means of the two periods was analyzed via independent samples t-test. Consequently, the brightness of clothing (Figure 1) in the case of the upper clothing increased by 1.20 during the examination term when compared with that during the regular period, showing a significant difference (Table 1). The bottom clothing increased by 0.45, but no remarkable change was appreciated (upper clothing: t = 4.69; p < 0.01 ES: Cramer’s V = 0.46; bottom clothing: t = 1.50; p = 0.13). As far as saturation is concerned (Figure 2), the average value of the upper clothing increased by 0.20 during the examination period compared to the regular period. There was no notable difference. The mean value of the bottom item decreased by 0.009 during the examination period compared to the regular period; moreover, there was no significant difference (bottom: t = 0.31; p = 0.75; bottom: t = 0.02; p = 0.98, ES: Cramer’s V = 0.15, respectively).

Figure 1.

Mean value of the brightness of the upper and bottom clothing during the two periods. ** indicates p < 0.01. Error bars are standard errors. (the same is shown hereafter.) In the figure below, examination is abbreviated as exam.

Brightness
	Mean	SD	SE
Upper (n = 103)
Regular	5.20	3.17	0.31
Exam	7.05	3.03	0.30
Bottom
Regular	2.98	1.94	0.19
Exam	3.42	2.64	0.26
Saturation
	Mean	SD	SE
Upper (n = 107)
Regular	2.86	4.10	0.41
Exam	3.06	4.74	0.47
Bottom
Regular	2.95	3.29	0.32
Exam	2.94	4.05	0.40

Table 1.

Residual analysis value of the color of the upper and bottom clothing for the two periods. The above table shows brightness and the below table shows saturation. In the table below, examination is abbreviated as exam.

Figure 2.

Mean value of the saturation of the upper and bottom clothing during the two periods.

2.2.2 Differences in the hue of the clothing during the regular and examination periods

To examine the association between period and color of the clothing, an independent samples chi-square test was used to analyze the results. The periods were the regular and the exam period, and for the hues, a total of 13 hues were used: 10 colored hues (R, YR, Y, GY, G, GB, B, PB, P, and RP) and three achromatic hues (W, N, and Bk) (Figure 3). The results were significant for upper clothing: χ2 (12) = 50.64 p < 0.01 ES: Cramer’s V = 0.49. For bottom clothing: χ2 (11) = 27.19 p < 0.01 ES: Cramer’s V = 0.35 (G was not selected, so the degree of freedom was 11), indicating that it is significant. In other words, it was clear that there was a relationship between the period and the hue of the selected clothing. Having established the relationship between period and the color of the clothing, a crosstabulation analysis [31, 32, 33, 34, 35] was continued to see where the association existed (Table 2). Comparing the count of observations and expected counts during the exam period, the observed and expected counts of G for the upper clothing were 5 and 2.5, respectively, significantly increased (p < 0.05). Similarly, the observed and expected counts for N were 0 and 8.7, respectively, significantly decreased (p < 0.01); the observed and expected counts for Bk were 12 and 18.3, respectively, significantly decreased (p < 0.01). The exam period counts for bottom significantly increased (p < 0.05), with 8 observed and 4.1 expected for W, and significantly decreased (p < 0.01) with 21 observed and 32.4 expected for PB.

Figure 3.

Ratio of the hue of upper and bottom clothing between the regular and examination periods. The left figure shows the color of the upper clothing. The right figure shows the color of the bottom clothing. (The left bar shows the regular period, and the right bar shows the examination period; * indicates p < 0.05; ** indicates p < 0.01.) The blue arrows indicate a significant increase. The red arrows indicate a significant decrease. The value of N is 0 in the examination period for the upper clothing, and the value of w is 0 in the regular period for the bottom clothing.

	R	YR	Y	GY	G	BG	B	PB	P	RP	W	N	Bk	Total
Count	5	3	2	3	0	3	5	13	4	5	19	17	24	103
Expected count	7.8	3.4	2.9	2.9	2.5	2.5	3.9	9.8	2.5	3.4	35.3	8.3	17.7	103.0
Count	11	4	4	3	5	2	3	7	1	2	53	0	12	107
Expected count	8.2	3.6	3.1	3.1	2.5	2.5	4.1	10.2	2.5	3.6	36.7	8.7	18.3	107.0
Count	16	7	6	6	5	5	8	20	5	7	72	17	36	210
Expected count	16.0	7.0	6.0	6.0	5.0	5.0	8.0	20.0	5.0	7.0	72.0	17.0	36.0	210.0
	R	YR	Y	GY	G	BG	B	PB	P	RP	W	N	Bk	Total
Count	1	6	2	3	0	0	3	42	2	1	0	7	36	103
Expected count	2.9	4.9	3.4	4.4	0.0	1.0	3.9	30.6	1.9	1.0	3.9	4.4	40.8	103.0
Count	5	4	5	6	0	2	5	21	2	1	8	2	48	109
Expected count	3.1	5.1	3.6	4.6	0.0	1.0	4.1	32.4	2.1	1.0	4.1	4.6	43.2	109.0
Count	6	10	7	9	0	2	8	63	4	2	8	9	84	212
Expected count	6.0	10.0	7.0	9.0	0.0	2.0	8.0	63.0	4.0	2.0	8.0	9.0	84.0	212.0

Table 2.

Clothing color * periods crosstabulation. The upper table shows upper clothing, and the lower table shows bottom clothing.

2.2.3 Differences in the tone of the clothing during the regular and examination periods

The same data were then analyzed using the chi-square independence test to examine the relationship between period and color tone. The color tone system is a system of color combinations defined by the Color Institute. It groups combinations of color brightness and saturation and classifies each group as a group of color that give the same impression (Figure 4). The results show that the color tone of the upper clothing was χ2 (13) = 30.82 p < 0.01 ES: Cramer’s V = 038. There was a significant relationship between color tone and period for the bottom clothing color tone with χ2 (13) = 30.00 p < 0.01 ES: Cramer’s V = 0.37 (Figure 5). Having identified a relationship between color tone and period, a crosstabulation analysis [31, 32, 33, 34, 35] was continued to see which variables were relevant (Table 3). Comparing the count of observations with the expected count, for upper clothing color tone, W was observed (53) and expected (36.7) and significantly increased ( p < 0.01) in the exam period, while N was observed (0) and expected (8.7) and significantly decreased ( p < 0.01) in the exam period. For the bottom color tone, “muddy shade d” was significantly reduced ( p < 0.01) with counts of observations (1) and expected counts (3.6) in the regular period, while “dark shade dk” was significantly reduced ( p < 0.05) with counts of observations (8) and expected counts (12.8) in the regular period. w was significantly increased ( p < 0.05) in the regular period with counts of observations (8) and expected counts (4.1). Previous studies have reported negative emotional states during the exam period [4], and that negative emotion leads to the selection of colors with lower brightness [24, 25, 26, 27]. The color with the highest brightness was white, and the color with the lowest brightness was black. Assuming that the emotion during the exam period was negative, one would expect to see more black and lower tones in both upper and bottom clothing, but white increased in the upper clothing, while muddy tone d and dark tone dk decreased in the bottom clothing. Figure 4 shows that the brightness of these two tones also ranged from low to medium. In other words, Hypothesis 2 was not supported for color tone as well as brightness and hue.

Figure 4.

Tone diagram (position of brightness and saturation). Vertical axis is brightness. The horizontal axis indicates saturation.

Figure 5.

Percentage of clothing tones during the regular period and the examination period. The upper figure shows upper clothing, and the lower figure shows bottom clothing; (* indicates p < 0.05; ** indicates p < 0.01). The blue arrows indicate a significant increase. The red arrows indicate a significant decrease. The value of N is 0 in the examination period shown above. The value of W is 0 in the regular period shown in the figure below.

			p	ltg	g	dkg	lt	sf	d	dk	b	dp	v	w	N	Bk	Total
Period	Regular	Count	5	3	0	3	4	3	1	8	4	5	7	19	17	24	103
		Expected count	4.4	2.0	1.0	2.9	3.9	2.0	1.0	4.4	3.4	4.4	10.8	35.3	8.3	19.1	103.0
	Exam	Count	4	1	2	3	4	1	1	1	3	4	15	53	0	15	107
		Expected count	4.6	2.0	1.0	3.1	4.1	2.0	1.0	4.6	3.6	4.6	11.2	36.7	8.7	19.9	107.0
	Total	Count	9	4	2	6	8	4	2	9	7	9	22	72	17	39	210
		Expected count	9.0	4.0	2.0	6.0	8.0	4.0	2.0	9.0	7.0	9.0	22.0	72.0	17.0	39.0	210.0
			p	ltg	g	dkg	lt	sf	d	dk	b	dp	v	w	N	Bk	Total
Period	Regular	Count	4	5	4	7	1	5	6	17	1	7	3	0	7	36	103
		Expected count	4.4	3.4	2.9	6.3	2.4	2.9	3.4	12.2	2.0	8.8	4.9	3.9	4.4	41.0	103.0
	Exam	Count	5	2	2	6	4	1	1	8	3	11	7	8	2	48	108
		Expected count	4.6	3.6	3.1	6.7	2.6	3.1	3.6	12.8	2.0	9.2	5.1	4.1	4.6	43.0	108.0
	Total	Count	9	4	6	8	4	2	9	7	9	22	72	17	39	208	211
		Expected count	9.0	4.0	6.0	8.0	4.0	2.0	9.0	7.0	9.0	22.0	72.0	17.0	39.0	208.0	211.0

Table 3.

Clothing tone * periods crosstabulation. The upper table shows upper clothing, and the lower table shows bottom clothing. The value of g is 0 in the regular period, and the value of g is 0 in the exam period shown above. The value of W is 0 in the regular period shown below.

2.3 Discussion

Experiment 1 investigated whether the period (regular or exam period) affected the color choice ratio of clothing in terms of brightness, saturation, and hue. Regarding brightness, the examination period was higher than the regular period, and the brightness of the upper clothing was significantly different between the two periods. In other words, a color was selected in the exam period that contained a greater percentage of white than in the regular period. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported. Next, we examined whether darker colors of clothing would be selected during the exam period compared to the regular period, and Hypothesis 2 was not supported. Previous studies have reported that the emotional state of university students during the study period was more negative [3]. Furthermore, several studies examining the relationship between emotions and colors [24, 25, 26, 27] reported that negative emotions may lead to the choice of dark colors. Therefore, it was predicted that participants would choose dark colors for the clothes they wore during the study period, but in the present experiment participants did not choose dark colors. The results suggest that emotions may not have been as negative during the exam period. Alternatively, assuming that brightness is associated with positive emotions, participants may have chosen the color of their clothing for positive reasons, such as motivating themselves. No differences were found between the two periods in terms of color saturation. In other words, there was no difference in color choice with regard to being bright or not in the regular and exam periods, and no relationship between period and saturation. In this regard, the proportion of the choice of the color of the clothing was high for achromatic colors and low for chromatic colors in both periods, so there was no significant difference between the two periods. No difference was found between the two periods in color saturation. In other words, there was no difference in the choice of bright colors for the regular period and vice versa. There was no relationship between period and saturation.

As for hue, the hues of the examinees’ clothing differed between the two periods, with four different hues selected for the upper clothing and two different hues for the bottom clothing, supporting Hypothesis 1. In other words, it may be inferred that the difference in the periods resulted in different emotional states and appropriate behavior in line with those emotions, i.e., different choices of the color of the clothing for the student’s own clothing. In other words, it can be inferred that different periods of time resulted in different color choices for the candidates’ own emotional states and appropriate behavior in line with those feelings, i.e. the choice of color for their clothing. Perhaps the difference in color choice was the result of students adopting measures such as using their own emotional intelligence and feeling more comfortable during the exam period. What do these differences in color choice during exam periods imply? In other words, it suggests that the examinees are accurately identifying their emotions and acting accordingly, thereby controlling their emotions and creating the appropriate situation. By hue, both the top and bottom of the spectrum show a higher percentage of W’s worn during the exam period compared to the regular period. Studies have reported that viewing achromatic colors decreases heart rate in the short term, and it can be assumed that heart rate is generally more affected during exam periods than during regular periods [34]. The reason why students increased their choice of white during the exam period is unclear, but interestingly, it is consistent with research showing that achromatic colors relieve tension; studies have reported that G relaxes people, and that the color G is associated with a higher heart rate during the exam period than during the regular periods [35]. Therefore, for the increased selection of G during the exam period, it is possible that people desired a relaxed state during that period. This may be because a moderate state of relaxation affects task performance. For example, in a study linking the colors Y, G, W, B, Bk, R, P, and N to electroencephalogram (EEG) [36], and in a study examining the relationship between the relaxing effects of beverage colors and EEG, the appearance of alpha waves was reported more frequently in clear containers with G-colored water. In this experiment on the color of drinking water, the green color was colored green with food dye, although the Munsell value and chromaticity were not specified. Therefore, assuming a relationship between the green color of drinking water and relaxation, the selectivity of G is obvious, but it is possible that clothing was selected for the same effect. However, other external factors, such as green being the fashionable color of the year, should also be considered. The above observations are only possible interpretations. To confirm this pattern, it is necessary to continue the experiment for multiple years to eliminate the factor of fashionable color.

Hypothesis 2 was not supported. For upper clothing, N and Bk decreased during the test period, while for bottoms, PB decreased during the test period. In other words, brighter colors tended to be chosen for the exam period compared to the regular period. Jeans are probably the first bottoms that come to mind for university students. If the wearing rate and color of jeans decreased during the exam period, the reason may lie not only in the color but also in the comfort of wearing them. The fabric or shape of the jeans may be too stiff or too constricting, making them unsuitable for sitting for long periods of time. Since the reasons for clothing choice are not only color but also texture and shape, this is a topic for future research.

Regarding tone, period was confirmed to affect the ratio of clothing color choice, supporting Hypothesis 1. For the upper clothing tones, the selection ratio of W (p < 0.01) increased significantly during the exam period, while N (p < 0.01) decreased during the regular and exam periods, compared to the regular period. For bottom clothing, the muddy shade d (p < 0.05) and the dark shade dk (p < 0.05) decreased during the exam period compared to the regular period. W (p < 0.01) also increased (Figure 5). These results reveal the effect of period on tone and support Hypothesis 1. However, the results did not support Hypothesis 2. Although we expected a greater proportion of darker colors to be selected during the exam period, for upper clothing and bottom clothing, there was an increase in the lighter color group.

These results suggest that the time of year may alter the brightness (upper clothing), hue (upper and bottom clothing), and tone (upper and bottom clothing) of the clothes’ colors. In other words, differences in emotional states at different times of the year may influence the Color of the clothing in different periods. In other words, it is suggested that participants used their emotional intelligence to clarify their own current situation and to make a decision about their behavior in choosing the color of their clothing. However, it is not clear whether this emotional intelligence influenced the choice of clothing color, unless the reasons for the choice of clothing color are questioned. Therefore, we decided to conduct Experiment 2.

3. Experiment 2

The results of Experiment 1 revealed that the choice of clothing color varies with the time of year. However, it is unclear whether there is an effect of emotional intelligence. It is possible that students feel a change in their own emotional state that is different from their usual state during exam periods and use this as a criterion for choosing the color of their clothing. Therefore, in Experiment 2, we aimed to determine whether emotional intelligence influences the choice of the color of the clothing and whether the reasons for choosing the color of the clothing differ between the normal and exam periods (Hypothesis 3). Participants were asked to indicate what color of clothing they intended to wear to school during regular exam periods and periods. For the exam period, participants were asked to imagine taking a memorization test and were asked what color clothing they would choose on the morning of the exam period and why. Participants were different from those in Experiment 1.

3.1 Methods

3.1.1 Participants

Participants (6 males, 10 females, 1 no response, mean age; M = 19.63 ± SD 1.02) in April 2022 who had taken “Practice in Psychology”. Participation in the experiment was voluntary and could be interrupted during the experiment. The experiment was not graded and was unpaid.

3.1.2 Procedure

The exercise was conducted in the morning when the temperature was ~20°C, and the humidity was ~50% in sunny weather. The location of the interview was Sapporo City (Japan). Information on the color of the upper and bottom clothing was collected, and clothing data of both periods were compared in Experiment 1. Before the experiment, the participants were informed that the survey was being conducted strictly for research purposes and that their participation would not be related to their grades. The total number of reasons for the responses in the two periods differs because there were multiple responses.

They were asked about the reasons for choosing the color of their upper and bottom clothing during the two periods the questions were answered by the following. Six options were used, namely, (1) the color of the clothes, (2) intuition, (3) temperature, (4) mood, (5) impression from others, and (6) other reasons (multiple answers were given) (Table 3). In addition, respondents were also asked to give detailed introspection reports on the reasons for their selections by means of free-text descriptions.

3.2 Results

We analyzed the relationship between period and reasons for choosing the color of clothing with a chi-square independence test (Figure 6).

Figure 6.

Percentage of reasons for choosing the color of clothing during the regular period and during the exam period; (* indicates p < 0.05; ** indicates p < 0.01). The blue arrows indicate a significant increase. The red arrows indicate a significant decrease. The values of “favorite,” “impression,” and “no answer” are 0 during the examination period.

The results showed a significant difference at χ2 (5) = 20.69, p < 0.01, ES: Cramer’s V = 0.74 (Table 4). It was clear that the reasons for the choice of clothing in the two periods differed. We continued the analysis using crosstabulations to see which reasons for the choice of clothing were affected by the period. Regarding the choice reasons, favorites were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in the count of observations (0) compared to the expected count (2.2) during the study period. Physical condition and mood increased the expected count observed during the study period (12) compared to the expected count (5.8). (p < 0.01) In other words, duration affected the reasons for color selection, with a decrease in the selection reason of favorite and an increase in the selection reasons of physical condition and mood during the exam period.

			Reason
			Favorite	Inspiration	Temperature	Phisical	Impression	No answer	Total
Period	Regular	Count	5	1	10	1	1	3	21
		Expected count	2.8	1.1	7.7	7.2	0.6	1.7	21.0
	Exam	Count	0	1	4	12	0	0	17
		Expected count	2.2	0.9	6.3	5.8	0.4	1.3	17.0
	Total	Count	5	2	14	13	1	3	38
		Expected count	5.0	2.0	14.0	13.0	1.0	3.0	38.0

Table 4.

The reason of color selection * periods crosstabulation.

The total count of reasons for the responses in the two periods differs because there were multiple responses. The values of “favorite,” “impression,” and “no answer” are 0 during the examination period.

3.3 Discussion

Experiment 1 suggested an effect of period on the choice of the color of the clothing, Experiment 2 examined the effect of emotional intelligence. To this end, we examined students’ reasons for choosing clothing color during regular and exam periods. For students taking exams, choosing a clothing color that may help them reduce anxiety, focus on tasks, and improve their academic performance is an important decision. This is especially significant if the exam is more important than expected. The results clearly showed that the reasons for clothing choice in both periods differed, suggesting the influence of emotional intelligence. Compared to the regular period, the percentage of reasons for choice decreased significantly from 30 to 0% for “I like the color of the clothes” in the test period. In addition, “physical condition” and “mood” significantly increased from 9% to 70.6%. In other words, during the exam period, respondents did not indicate any preference for the color of the clothing. On the contrary, the percentage of respondents who chose the color of the clothing based on their physical condition and mood increased. This may be due to the lack of time to pay attention to clothing during the exam period, or it may be due to the use of emotional intelligence, a strategy to be comfortable and get good grades during the exam period. Furthermore, when participants were asked to give their reasons for choosing the color of their clothing, 10 of the 17 participants chose it to relieve tension or calm their mood, and four chose it to lift their mood or lift their spirits. These findings suggest that participants perceive their own emotions and select clothing colors in the most appropriate state for the test. Such emotion management has important implications for behavioral decision making. In other words, the study suggests that perceiving one’s own emotions during the exam period and using them as a source of information for one’s behavior corresponds to a component of emotional intelligence: perceiving one’s own emotions and managing those emotions for one’s behavior. In other words, it is suggested that the participants rely on emotional intelligence to take the action of choosing the color of the clothing.

4. Conclusion

Experiment 1 examined whether different periods (regular or exam period) affect the ratio of clothing color choice in terms of brightness, saturation, and hue. It was suggested that brightness, hue and tone were affected. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was clarified. Previous studies [24, 25, 26, 27] have found a relationship between negative emotions and dark colors. However, the results were not consistent. The fact that the participants did not choose dark colors may indicate that there is no relationship between negative emotions and the choice of color (especially in this case, the color of clothing). It is also possible that they chose the color of their clothing for other reasons, such as to motivate themselves during the test period. No difference was found for saturation. This may indicate, for example, that even if there was a change in saturation, the proportion of achromatic colors (white, gray, and black) was high, and the change in chromatic colors could not be detected. Regarding hue, four different hues were selected for the upper clothing and two different hues for the bottom clothing. Next, Hypothesis 2 examined whether darker colors would increase the rate of choice of clothing color, based on the assumption that university students may experience negative emotional states such as nervousness during the exam period. However, Hypothesis 2 was not supported because the results showed an increase in white and a decrease in black.

The above results showed that the choice of the color of the clothing differed between the different periods, but the reason for this color choice was not clear. Therefore, in Experiment 2, we examined the influence of emotional intelligence. The emotional states of the participants differed between periods, and the appropriate behavior in line with their emotions, i.e., their reasons for color choice of the clothing, should be clarified to infer that the differences occurred. The reasons for the choice of the color of the clothing should be clarified. To this end, we investigated the reasons for students’ choice of clothing color during regular and exam periods. For students taking exams, choosing a color of clothing that may help them reduce anxiety, focus on tasks, and improve their academic performance is an important decision. It was evident that the reasons for clothing choice during both periods differed. Comparing the percentages of reasons for choice with the regular period, “I like the color of the clothes” significantly decreased from 30 to 0% in the test period. In addition, “physical condition” and “mood” significantly increased from 9 to 74%. In other words, the reason for the choice may have influenced the color of the clothing. Furthermore, when participants were asked to provide their reasons for choosing the color of their clothing in an open-ended response, 10 out of 17 participants chose it to relieve tension or calm their mood, while four participants chose it to boost their mood or lift their spirits. These findings suggest that participants perceive their own emotions and select clothing colors in the most appropriate state for the test. Such emotion management has important implications for behavioral decision making. This experiment suggests that perceiving one’s emotions during the examination period and using them as a source of information for one’s behavior corresponds to the component of emotional intelligence: perceiving one’s emotions and managing those emotions for one’s behavior. The choice of clothing color and the reasons for it may have allowed the participants to perceive their emotions, understand their emotions, and take appropriate action during the examination period. It is suggested that physiological and emotional intelligence may have influenced the choice of clothing color. The study revealed that the choice of clothing color and the reasons for the choice of clothing color allowed the participants to perceive their emotions, understand their feelings, and take appropriate action during the exam period. In other words, the results suggest that period and emotional intelligence may influence the choice of the color of the clothing. This may be a specific example of the use of emotional intelligence for general behavior. Future research is needed to develop the results of this study further, which were inspired by previous research showing that the outcome of tasks differs depending on the color of clothing. If changing the color of clothing has the potential to influence mental states and change attitudes and behaviors in different situations, this possibility would be worth investigating. Further research is needed to contrast the results. There is evidence that color preferences vary with cultural factors [37, 38]. In the future, it would be interesting to investigate people’s choices in other cultures, places, and environmental conditions with different preferences, priorities, and other functional and external variables that may induce mood and psychological and physical states that influence decision making.

Finally, although we did not consider gender differences in clothing in this experiment, a recent trend in Japan is that women’s skirts and dresses are more colorful than men’s pants. The same is true for the color scheme of jackets. It would be interesting to analyze these gender differences in due course. Considering that up to a certain age, parents’ clothing preferences are reflected in the survey, it is necessary to limit the age range covered by the survey, and there is room for further study on how the color of clothing is affected by age. In addition, children under high school age living in Japan may live with their parents and may not be able to wear their favorite colors of clothing because their parents have opinions about their clothing preferences in Japan. Therefore, it is therefore desirable to conduct the survey among university students, who are old enough to choose their clothes with some degree of freedom.

The results of this study are limited to Japanese university students only. It is possible that emotional intelligence was used to direct behavior in this study, but it is unclear whether there were differences in performance outcomes with or without a choice of clothing color. In the future, we plan to conduct some kind of test, such as a memory test, to compare the performance of the group that was allowed to freely choose the color of their clothing with that of the group that was not allowed to choose. Finally, there are many aspects of emotional intelligence that have not yet been fully investigated. It is necessary to continue our research with a view to collaborating with interdisciplinary fields.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by JST SPRING, Grant Number JPMJSP2119.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.