Chromophobia (also known as chromatophobia or chrematophobia) is a persistent, irrational fear of, or aversion to,

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

s and is usually a

conditioned response Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. a triangle). It also refers to the lear ...

. While actual clinical phobias to color are rare, colors can elicit hormonal responses and psychological reactions. Chromophobia may also refer to an aversion of use of color in products or design. Within

cellular biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

, " chromophobic" cells are a classification of cells that do not attract

hematoxylin Haematoxylin or hematoxylin (), also called natural black 1 or C.I. 75290, is a compound extracted from heartwood of the logwood tree ('' Haematoxylum campechianum'') with a chemical formula of . This naturally derived dye has been used as ...

, and is related to chromatolysis.

Terminology

Names exist that mean fear of specific colors such as ''erythrophobia'' for the fear of red, ''xanthophobia'' for the fear of

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...

and ''leukophobia'' for the fear of

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

. A fear of the color red may be associated with a fear of blood.

Overview

In his book ''Chromophobia '' published in 2000, David Batchelor says that in Western culture, color has often been treated as corrupting, foreign or superficial. Michael Taussig states that the cultural aversion to color can be traced back a thousand years, with Batchelor stating that it can be traced back to

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

's privileging of line over color. In a study, hatchling

Loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

s were found to have an aversion to lights in the yellow wave spectrum which is thought to be a characteristic that helps orient themselves toward the ocean. The

Mediterranean sand smelt The Mediterranean sand smelt, ''Atherina hepsetus'', is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae. Description The body is rather long, slender and moderately flattened. The mouth is protrusible, directed upward with small teeth; the head and ...

, ''Atherina hepsetus'', has shown an aversion to red objects placed next to a tank while it will investigate objects of other colors. In other experiments, geese have been conditioned to have adverse reactions to foods of a particular color, although the reaction was not observed in reaction to colored water. The title character in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's '' Marnie'' has an aversion to the color red caused by a trauma during her childhood which Hitchcock presents through expressionistic techniques, such as a wash of red coloring a close up of Marnie. The term colorphobia can also be used refer to its literal etymological origin to refer to an apprehension towards image processing on one's vision and its visual perceptual property. However, the term's association with a racial component has been used by public figures such as

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

. Leukophobia often takes the form of a fixation on pale skin. Those with the phobia may make implausible assumptions such as paleness necessarily representing ill health or a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

. In other cases, leukophobia is directed more towards the symbolic meaning of whiteness, for instance in individuals who associate the color white with chastity and are opposed to or fear chastity. In

Paul Beatty Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize for his novel '' The Sellout''. It was the first tim ...

's novel ''Slumberland'', leukophobia refers to racism.

Variations

References

{{Color topics Color Phobias

Terminology

Overview

Variations

See also

References