As part of a 2012 study of gender norms, University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen asked nearly 2,000 men and women a simple question: "What is your favorite color?" Blue turned out to be the most preferred, followed by green for men and lilac for women.
Another YouGov survey conducted in 2015 in 10 countries on all four continents showed that blue is the most preferred worldwide. Green, red and lilac (depending on the country) were ranked second. Even the color blue was most preferred in China, where colors like red, yellow and green are considered auspicious.
Blue tends to be more popular with men than women, but women still tend to choose blue more often than any other color. Studies since the 1940s have highlighted this approach to blues. It seems that everyone loves blue, but why?
According to research conducted by psychologists Stephen E. Palmer and Karen Schloss in recent years, our color preferences relate to objects that accompany color. For example, the tendency towards the color orange also depends on how much you like pumpkins; or the tendency towards green depends on the relationship you have with the grass or broccoli.
"It turns out, if you look at all the things that relate to blue, that they are mostly positive," Schloss explains. "Rarely can you think of negative things in blue." We associate blue mainly with sky and water, which are associated with more positive sensations.
