Resistance to seasonal color analysis is rarely about color, and usually about who gets to decide.

Jack Brehm named this in 1966: reactance, the urge to restore a freedom by doing the opposite.

Reactance needs three conditions, a freedom you believe you hold, a threat to it, and it mattering to you.

Jonauskaite's 2020 study found color-emotion agreement at .88 across 30 countries and 4,598 participants.

I have noticed, with some regularity, that discussing seasonal color theory in relation to personal style, brand design, or interior design elicits a few response categories. Seasonal color analysis helps people determine the most harmonious hues for their wardrobe based on undertone, eye color, skin luminosity, and hair. The system then matches those characteristics with palettes based on the color’s warmth or coolness, saturation, and intensity. The whole process involves draping different-colored fabrics over someone in natural light and observing changes in skin, hair, and eye quality as the color's vibration interacts with the person’s skin. No peer-validated study confirms the taxonomy, and there are numerous interpretations of the seasonal palettes. However, the premise behind seasonal color analysis is supported by the work of Perret and Sprengelmeyer (2021), who found that observers consistently chose cooler clothing for fair complexion and warmer tones for tanned skin. Unfortunately, the sample was limited to white women.

The most common response to seasonal color analysis is unspoken skepticism, because many people resist anything that “puts things in boxes,” a refrain I'm well acquainted with from my work as a personality psychology researcher and educator. And finally, and perhaps the most befuddling, is a kind of stubborn disdain. An audible scoff, an eye roll, or a reactivity that leads me to believe that seasonal color theory has genuinely wronged the person in ways I couldn't fully comprehend until I looked further.

To test this, I asked someone why they not only scoffed but also shot me a deep eye........

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