<p>There appears to be a prevalent stereotype that girls seem to have "heightened" color perception. By this term, I mean that they can identify the salient features of different shades of color. However, many ideas that are widespread in public consciousness do not seem to be based on empirical evidence. </p>

<p>Is there any research that has investigated gender differences in color perception? In particular, are there any well-performed experiments in the study of perception or cognitive neuroscience that may shed light on this perceived phenomenon?</p>

<p>There are many <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2005/09/27/do-women-perceive-color-differ/" rel="noreferrer">'sources'</a> on the internet that seem to have commented on this, but I can't find any compelling evidence personally. There is some literature on cross-cultural variation and cross-language perceptual differences, is there any literature on cross-gender variation?</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>Sources:</strong></p>

<p>Jameson, K. A., Highnote, S. M., &amp; Wasserman, L. M. (2001). Richer color experience in observers with multiple opsin genes. Psychonomic bulletin and review, 8, 244-261.</p>

<p>Gilbert, A. L., Regier, T., Kay, P., &amp; Ivry, R. B. (2006). <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/103/2/489.full.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Whorf hypothesis is supported in the right visual field but not the left.</a> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(2), 489–494.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/E7zy7.jpg" alt="A stereotype prevalent in public consciousness"></p>

<perception><vision><color><sex-differences><gender>
Are there gender differences in color discrimination ability?
Vakalate
# Are there gender differences in color discrimination ability?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-05)

There appears to be a prevalent stereotype that girls seem to have "heightened" color perception. By this term, I mean that they can identify the salient features of different shades of color. However, many ideas that are widespread in public consciousness do not seem to be based on empirical evidence.

Is there any research that has investigated gender differences in color perception? In particular, are there any well-performed experiments in the study of perception or cognitive neuroscience that may shed light on this perceived phenomenon?

There are many ['sources'](http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2005/09/27/do-women-perceive-color-differ/) on the internet that seem to have commented on this, but I can't find any compelling evidence personally. There is some literature on cross-cultural variation and cross-language perceptual differences, is there any literature on cross-gender variation?

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**Sources:**

Jameson, K. A., Highnote, S. M., & Wasserman, L. M. (2001). Richer color experience in observers with multiple opsin genes. Psychonomic bulletin and review, 8, 244-261.

Gilbert, A. L., Regier, T., Kay, P., & Ivry, R. B. (2006). [Whorf hypothesis is supported in the right visual field but not the left.](http://www.pnas.org/content/103/2/489.full.pdf) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(2), 489–494.

![A stereotype prevalent in public consciousness](https://i.sstatic.net/E7zy7.jpg)

**Tags:** perception, vision, color, sex-differences, gender


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## 0 answers

