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It is sometimes suggested that pink is a soothing color.

For example, About.com says:

  • Pink is thought to have a calming effect. One shade known as "drunk-tank pink" is sometimes used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opposing teams locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic.
  • While pink's calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of color psychology have found that this effect only occurs during the initial exposure to the color. When used in prisons, inmates often become even more agitated once they become accustomed to the color.

Does painting a room pink make it (initially) calming?

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Minnow
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  • Given the total re-write of the question I'll have to give ownership of the question to @Oddthinking. Odd, you tell me which answer you like and I'll accept it on your behalf. – Minnow Sep 02 '15 at 02:02
  • I interpreted that comment as dissatisfaction with the edit, so I closed the question while we resolve what needs to be fixed. Is there a particular part you are unhappy with, or are you just not fond of the "Be bold" nature of editing here? – Oddthinking Sep 02 '15 at 06:14
  • @Oddthinking I'll admit at the time I found *'being bold'* jarring compared with my experience on other stack exchange sites. Re-reading your edits, I am happy to go forward with the question if you'll entertain reopening it. – Minnow Nov 25 '15 at 19:01

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In this paper published on orthomolecular.org, the researchers covered a county jail strip search room in pink color.

To quote from the abstract:

Overall, little or no difference was found in incident rate for the pre- and post-pink months. The initial decline is seen as an intrinsically interesting artifact of the intervention, itself indicative of an economical approach to reducing aggression in volatile detention situations.

The study is from the last 70s and they found virtually no difference between a blue and a pink room.

Furthermore, this specific pink color is called "Baker-Miller-Pink" after the US Navy officers that were the heads of the facility where it was first applied. The Wikipedia Article on this is pretty good. But even another, newer study, cited by Wikipedia, show no real benefit of pink wallpaper.

So, even if there is an effect, it's pretty small.

George Chalhoub
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