The psychology of gold and why it has that allure

When you think of the color gold, images of grandeur and extravagance are likely to come to mind.

For millennia the metal has adorned crowns and hilts of swords. It has been used to enhance paintings and ornaments to increase their value.

In some cultures, gold is a predominant feature of festivals and celebrations. In Eastern cultures, the metal is an integral part of auspicious occasions like marriages and festivals by way of gifts and sacred rituals. Gold also features heavily on the attires of brides and grooms throughout South Asia.

Humans' fascination with gold is as old as time itself. The scarce material has a certain appeal to it.

Empires have flourished by possessing gold, wars have been fought to control regions harboring rich deposits of the metal, and treasure hunters and explorers have spent a lifetime in search of it.

But were they fascinated by the metal or its color? The two can be hard to distinguish, said Peter Oakley from the Royal College of Arts in the United Kingdom. There is crossover between gold as a material and gold as a color, he said.

"The two feed off each other. The idea of gold as a color is intimately connected with our idea of gold as a material," he explained. So, when we think of it as a color, we unconsciously relate to the precious metal -- which in turn conjures images of wealth and success. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/health/colorsco...lure/index.html

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