456 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF YELLOW 



By HAVELOCK ELLIS 



n~^HE part played by red as a powerful stimulant in the psychic life 

 -*- is clearly pronounced and fairly uniform among all peoples at 

 all grades of civilization. 1 The special emotional tone of yellow is by 

 no means so easy to define. It varies to a marked extent at different 

 historical periods, in different regions of the globe, even under civil- 

 ized conditions, at different ages in the same individual. There is no 

 color which is sometimes so exalted in human estimation and some- 

 times so debased. The psychology of yellow thus presents problems 

 which are peculiarly difficult to unravel. 



Among primitive peoples the delight in yellow seems to be almost 

 universal. Eed is the favorite color of savages, but — as in the personal 

 decoration with ochre of the tribes of Central Australia, according to 

 Spencer and Gillen — yellow is easily second, and sometimes perhaps on 

 the same level with red. Indeed, it may even at times seem to be pre- 

 ferred to red. Thus in some parts of New Guinea, although the na- 

 tives are fond of scarlet, they take the trouble to feed a certain parrot 

 having red tail-feathers on a yellow root (for they have no means of 

 dyeing) until the tail feathers turn yellow. 2 As a general rule, when 

 dyes are known, bright yellow, after or with scarlet, is the favorite 

 color, as it was among the Society Islanders. It was so, not only among 

 the savages of the Pacific, but also among our own ancestors, and the 

 primitive German woman used yellow and red ochre to adorn her face 

 and body. 3 The early Europeans seem to have been by no means always 

 careful to distinguish between their two favorite colors of red and 

 yellow ; they saw both colors in gold, the most precious material of their 

 adornments ; the phrase ' red gold ' is almost modern, and the Kirins. of 

 the Caucasus, according to Abercrombie, used for gold a word (bor- 

 rowed from the Tartars), which also means red. 



Young children, who are at one with savages at so many points, 

 share their love of yellow, and usually indeed prefer it to red, though 

 some writers, like Scripture, are inclined to account for this as due 

 entirely, as in large measure it doubtless is, to the greater brightness of 

 yellow. As to the reality of the preference among the children of 

 various nations there seems to be little doubt. Preyer's child liked and 



1 Havelock Ellis, ' The Psychology of Red,' Popular Science Monthly, Aug., 

 Sept., 1900. 



2 R. E. Guise, Journal Anthropological Institute, Feb., 1899, p. 214. 



* G. Buschan, ' Leben und Treiben der Deutscher Frau in der Urzeit,' p. 7. 



