EFFECTS OF 9 MONOCHROMATIC OFFICE INTERIOR COLORS ON CLERICAL TASKS AND WORKER MOOD

A pre- and post-between groups experimental design with nine treatment groups was conducted to determine the effects of interior office colo rs on subject's clerical task performance, mood, and color preference. A total of 675 subjects participated in the study. The dependent vari ables were proofreading performance tasks, six mood states, and color preference. Independent variables were nine office colors, two saturat ion levels (high or low), two value levels (dark or light), warmth or coolness of the colors, and gender. The data were analyzed by using mu ltivariate analyses of covariance and analyses of variance. The result s showed that subjects made significantly more proofreading errors in the white office than in the blue and red offices. Females performed s ignificantly better than males. Moreover, the saturation of the colors seemed to be a salient predictor of differences between females and m ales. Females indicated more depression, confusion, and anger in low-s aturated office colors (white, gray, beige), whereas males reported mo re depression, confusion, and anger in the high-saturated office color s (green, blue, purple, red, yellow, and orange). Further, subjects re vealed that they would be least likely to work in the beige and white offices. Implications for future research on the effects of colors on office worker performance and mood are discussed. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.