The Psychology of Tie Colours

[Tobus]

As a sort of spinoff from a post in another thread (so as not to hijack that topic), I wanted to discuss the following:

There are a few articles that I found that reinforce my worries:

• The Psychology of Tie Colours

Firstly, imbrius, thanks for the link. It was an interesting read. Now I'm going to explain why I disagree with it.

It's not completely wrong. I do think that one's tie choice says a lot about the person, and it can perhaps project certain qualities to people. But quite frankly, the author is (admittedly) reaching pretty far to ascribe magical powers to a necktie that simply don't exist.

Consider the sources he used as authorities: a school principal, an author of a fashion publication, a "trend analyst" who studies colour, a financial executive, and an image consultant. Without further information on their backgrounds, I'd be hard-pressed to consider any of them authorities on psychology. They are repeating fashion dogma that has become very stale. I've been hearing much of their advice since at least the 1980, but things don't necessarily mean what they used to.

Some of the points may be valid, such as wearing bold colours (e.g. purple) projecting self-confidence to others. It does take a bit of boldness to wear bright purple, since it's not a common colour for men to wear. I can accept that correlation. But only because of the rarity of the colour being worn, not because of any psychological hocus-pocus of the hue itself. It also makes sense that some colours have social or political affiliations, like a man wearing pink to represent solidarity with women (if that's a colour commonly recognised for that purpose, as with pink ribbon campaigns).

Red ties were at one time a bold choice and became so ubiquitous amongst politicians that they're now known as "power ties", but I rather tend to think that it's the association with politicians' uniform look, and not the colour of the tie itself, that is responsible for that. Likewise, the choice of a plain black tie is associated with formality because that's how it's been used for so long that people are programmed to see it that way. University/regimental ties, well, obviously those are associated with organisations based on defined symbols. In other words it's not the psychology of the colour per se; it's the sociology of symbols. Again, I can sort of agree with the author's premise here.

But if one is expecting a tie colour to keep an audience from being bored by one's lecture, I believe that goes beyond the bounds of common sense. A pleasing colour is not going to keep your students from ignoring you if your lecture is dull. Burgundy helping to build trust sounds like a load of hogwash. Yellow projecting vitality and radiance because of its association with the colour of the sun? Or blue being a calming colour because it's the colour of the sky and ocean? This sounds like pseudo-psychological babble from the back of a bubblegum wrapper. I submit that it will not make one bit of difference in a business meeting or the workplace. There is SO much more to human interaction than people being mesmerised by a necktie colour and behaving differently than they otherwise would. The colour of your necktie is not going to be the difference in getting a contract signed or convincing a client to agree with your design.

In my opinion (and this is just all opinion, for the record), there are more immediate and powerful messages that your necktie will send to others than the colour. Does it look neat and tidy and worn with elegance? Or is it tied loosely, sloppily and too long? Does the colour scheme go with the rest of the outfit, or does it look like you grabbed the first one off the rack? Is it worn haphazardly and flapping around, or is it fixed with a tie bar, tie tack, etc.? These things can all be subtly adjusted to project moods, level of dress, or personality quirks. Sometimes a more casually-worn tie can be ideal, instead of always looking like James Bond. And the colour of the tie is, I think, way far down the list of importance.

Not to say that tie colours and patterns are not important, though. A conservative striped tie says professionalism where a Dallas Cowboys logo or Hulk Hogan WWF-themed tie might not. These things are obvious.

When I'm picking a tie for the workday, I'm more interested in making sure the colour goes with what I'm wearing and the texture pairs well. I'm also choosing the width of the tie and choice of knot based on my shirt collar and/or jacket lapels. I may choose a tie based on wanting to look more polished for that day, or a different one to look more workman-like (if that makes sense). I even pick ties based on the weather. If I know it's going to be hot and I'm going to be rolling up my shirtsleeves, I might wear a thinner tie that's more conducive to a loose knot and a slackened collar. Whereas on a cold day I might wear a wool tie and keep my collar snug. What I love about ties is that there are so many variables in how they're worn as part of a greater package, which includes shoe and belt choices, trousers (or kilt), jacket, and the like. Colour is one factor, of course, but it just isn't the central statement that this author makes it out to be. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a red tie is just a red tie, not a declaration of power.

I used to avoid yellow neckties because I thought they were a little bold/loud or flamboyant for my conservative style. Then I was given one by a fellow member here. To my delight, I actually like it! I don't notice people treating me as more approachable when I wear it. So much for that theory.

So that was a longer diatribe than I intended it to be. But I'm curious on the opinions of others. Do you agree or disagree on tie colours having some sort of psychological influence on people? Or does the colour of a person's tie not make any difference in your perception of them?

[GrymJack]

In my early days as a Team Lead and Senior Technical Trainer for General Dynamics here at Fort Hood, I wore a tie daily, except when actually working on the equipment. I have a collection of close to two hundred different ties in all colors of the rainbow (except pink) and ranging from solid black to almost glow in the daylight neon. I have camouflaged ties, Texas ties, Disney ties, Endangered Species ties, silk, nylon, wool and cotton versions, wide, thin and in between, not to mention a few bow ties. Most of soldiers and civilians I trained never made any overt notice of them. What I did notice was that I was treated slightly more professionally with the tie, than without. Which tie did not seem to carry much weight, just the fact I wore the tie. I was the last trainer at our site to stop wearing ties, and I think it resulted in a general lowering of the professional atmosphere. I have since retired from GD and rarely wear a tie except at weddings and funerals. I suspect that it is only a matter of time before I donate most of them to my wife for making into quilts.