Effects of university affiliation and school spirit on color preferences: Berkeley versus Stanford
Schloss, Poggesi and Palmer test a prediction of the ecological valence theory, which holds that colour preference is set by people's average affective response to everything associated with a colour. It implies that preference should rise with positive feelings toward an institution strongly tied to a colour. They measured undergraduates' colour preferences at two rival universities, Berkeley and Stanford. Students preferred their own university's colours more than their rivals did.
Schloss, Poggesi and Palmer test a prediction of the ecological valence theory, which holds that colour preference is set by people's average affective response to everything associated with a colour. It implies that preference should rise with positive feelings toward an institution strongly tied to a colour. They measured undergraduates' colour preferences at two rival universities, Berkeley and Stanford. Students preferred their own university's colours more than their rivals did.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Schloss, K. B., Poggesi, R. M., & Palmer, S. E. (2011). Effects of university affiliation and school spirit on color preferences: Berkeley versus Stanford. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18(3), 498-504. doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0073-1.