Emotions
What Is It About Purple?
The uniqueness of purple.
Updated October 7, 2025 Reviewed by Abigail Fagan
Key points
- Purple combines the energy of red and the calmness of blue to connote a rare set of desires and emotions.
- Wearing purple may elevate self-esteem and encourage low-stakes relationships.
- People who love purple express this love in creative and diverse ways.
Many of us develop strong attachments to particular colors, but purple brings out the most focused and enthusiastic devotion. What makes purple so distinctive?
Part of the answer comes from optics. Violet light has the shortest wavelength on the spectrum of visible light, right next to the unseen ultraviolet, which only our skin detects. With its short wavelength and high frequency, the color purple contains the highest energy of all visible light. Figuratively, we can think of purple as the border between the visible and the invisible.
Evolution also favors purple. As hunters and gatherers, we were drawn to variations of purple for the purpose of detecting edible ripe fruit against the backdrop of green foliage.
The significance of purple arises from these physical qualities and its place in nature, but the love of purple transcends optics and biology. What makes purple and purple lovers so special?
To answer that, I draw primarily from a comprehensive qualitative analysis of interviews with purple lovers, but also from experimental work, historical evidence, and contemporary culture.1
Identity, Self-Esteem, and the Esteem of Others
With the people interviewed, purple is central to the concept of self. One person said, “Seeing purple reminds me to be me.” Another said, “When I'm surrounded by purple, I feel a sense of rightness and calm that no other color gives me.” Still another said simply, “Purple makes me feel happy.”
One obvious reason people love purple is that they like the way purple looks on them.2 And others support that. In fact, all the interviewees said that when wearing purple, their outfits are openly appreciated. One person summed it up this way: “I get many compliments when I wear purple ... and that always feels good.”
Connecting With Others
Nearly everyone interviewed said they feel an affinity with other people wearing purple, which is then reciprocated.
One of the interviewees said that while dressed in different shades of purple at the gym, she saw another person wearing purple, and the two of them stopped and talked about purple. This included a discussion of whether magenta belonged in the general category of purple, a discussion that added “a nice hit of camaraderie to the experience.” In general, such casual interactions—or low-stakes relationships—elevate our level of happiness.3
Variety
Purple offers many blend possibilities, with deep purple on one end and lighter lavenders on the other. More than half the people interviewed extolled the “great variety” of hues to choose from, and they enjoy choosing different shades to wear, while staying in the color world of purple.
Combining Blue and Red
Purple’s blending of warm red and cool blue tones creates a unique balance that evokes both creativity and stability. With this combination of warm and cool, purple manages to energize and to calm. As one person said, “Purple combines the passion of red with the tranquility of blue.” In the words of another, purple is “both happy and soothing.”
Color Psychology
A 2025 paper by Domicele Jonauskaite and Christine Mohr supports the idea that purple is associated with a rare and intriguing combination of affective concepts. In a careful mapping of the connotations of purple, these researchers showed the psychological diversity of purple, possibly arising from the blend of blue and red. For a thorough summary of this current and comprehensive review of color-emotion correspondences over time, see the authors’ Psychology Today post.
Studies looking at personal characteristics suggest that people who love purple appreciate novelty, enjoy being artistic, and are comfortable taking unorthodox approaches to the challenges of everyday life. However, as noted by color researcher Andrew Eliot, we are only at the beginning of rigorous experimentation on color and psychological functioning.
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Purple and Royalty
The strong association between purple and royalty has a clear basis in historical fact. For more than 3,000 years, the most desirable, vibrant, and long-lasting dye was a purple dye made from murex sea snails found in the Mediterranean.4 It was also far more expensive than any other dye for any color. Producing just one gram demanded tens of thousands of snails. As a result, the only people in early civilizations who could afford purple dye were elite members of the ruling classes, giving rise to purple’s association with luxury, nobility, and sophistication. Julius Caesar, for example, wore a toga colored with this purple dye.
Intrinsic Qualities of Purple
In their interviews, people made direct statements about the color purple itself, independent of what they do with it or what it means, calling it “stunning,” “rich,” “vibrant,” and “deep.”
Purple and Politics
Purple is centered between red and blue on the color wheel, the perfect middle. As such, the color has achieved national significance in the United States. Being right between Republican red and Democratic blue, purple refers politically to a state or region that represents both major parties. These purple areas are then a matter of substantial focus during campaigns and elections.
Expressing Love for Purple
The primary way people express their love of purple is by wearing it, with every manner of clothing and accessories, including coats, shirts, pants, dresses, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, nail polish, makeup, watchbands, toothbrushes, handbags, and computer bags. But this love is expressed in other ways, as well. Three of the people interviewed said that when they moved to a different house, they made themselves feel at home by painting at least one wall of their new house purple.
A water colorist said, “I have more tubes of purple paint than any other color.” Another interviewee writes only with purple pens—similar to the Byzantium emperors signing their official documents with the purple ink made from murex snails.
And such expression is enduring. One person concluded, “My love of purple will probably stay with me forever. My friends and my reputation are relying on it!”
References
Elliot, A. J., and Maier, M. A. (2014). Color psychology: effects of perceiving color on psychological functioning in humans. Ann. Rev. Psychol. 65, 95–120.
Elliot, A. J. (2015). Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, April 2.
Jonauskaite, D., Mohr, C. (2025). Do we feel colours? A systematic review of 128 years of psychological research linking colours and emotions. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 32, 1457- 1486.
Note 1. The following four questions were asked during the interview. a) What is it about purple that you love? b) How do you express your love of purple? c) How does seeing other people wearing purple affect you? d) When did you first become aware of your love of purple?
Note 2. The most frequent reason people give for not liking purple is that purple clothing does not look good on them.
Note 3. Weak ties are the casual relationships or low-stakes relationships outside our circle of close friends and family: the person at the wine store who gives advice, the teller at the bank, the pharmacist who dispenses friendly conversation along with medicine. This network of casual relationships keep us connected to different social groups and enhance our well-being.
Note 4. The Greeks called the region where the murex snail was found “the land of purple,” which translates to “Phoenicia.”
