Beware! Colour and emotion correspondences are rarely about feelings

Abstract Colours are regularly linked to emotions in behaviour and languages. While research on conceptual colour-emotion correspondences is accumulating, we know little as to whether colour influences felt affective states. Such research should inquire about what people currently feel (self-reported emotions) or assess psychophysiological changes. We reviewed thirty-one studies targeting colour and felt affective states. Only eight of them immersed participants in coloured environments, real or virtual, and accounted for lightness and/or chroma in addition to hue. Results of these eight studies were inconsistent. We observed tendencies hinting at higher physiological arousal in warm and more chromatic environments. We need more systematic studies before we can conclude that colour impacts felt affective states.