Baker-Miller Pink

Baker-Miller Pink
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#FF91AF
sRGBB  (r, g, b)	(255, 145, 175)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)	(0, 43, 31, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(344°, 43%, 100[1]%)
Source	Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Baker-Miller Pink is a tone of pink that was originally created by mixing one gallon of pure white indoor latex paint with one pint of red trim semi-gloss outdoor paint.^[2] The color has the following RGB code: R:255, G:145, B: 175. It is named for the two US Navy officers who first experimented with its use in the Naval Correctional Facility in Seattle, Washington at the behest of researcher Alexander Schauss. The color is also known as Schauss pink, after Alexander Schauss's extensive research into the effects of the color on emotions and hormones, as well as P-618 and Drunk-Tank Pink.^[3]

History

In the late 1960s, Alexander Schauss, Director of Life Sciences at the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma, Washington, did studies on psychological and physiological responses to the color pink. Schauss had read studies by the Swiss psychiatrist Max Luscher, who believed that color preferences provided clues about one's personality. Luscher noticed that color preferences shifted according to psychological and physiological fluctuations in his patients. Luscher asserted that color choice reflects emotional states. He theorized that one's color choices reflect corresponding changes in the endocrine system, which produces hormones.

Schauss then wondered if the reverse might also be true. Could color cause emotional and hormonal changes? Could various wavelengths of light trigger profound and measurable responses in the endocrine system?

In early tests in 1978, Schauss observed that color, surprisingly, did affect muscle strength, either invigorating or enervating the subject, and even influenced the cardiovascular system. Schauss began to experiment on himself, with the help of his research assistant John Ott. Amazingly, he discovered that a particular shade of pink had the most profound effect. He labeled this tone of pink P-618. Schauss noted that by merely staring at an 18 × 24 inch card printed with this color, especially after exercising, there would result "a marked effect on lowering the heart rate, pulse and respiration as compared to other colors."

In 1979, Schauss managed to convince the directors of a Naval correctional institute in Seattle, Washington to paint some prison confinement cells pink in order to determine the effects this might have on prisoners. Schauss named the color after the Naval correctional institute directors, Baker and Miller. Baker-Miller Pink is now the official name of the paint whose color has the following RGB code: R: 255, G: 145, B: 175.

At the correctional facility, the rates of assault before and after the interior was painted pink were monitored. According to the Navy's report, "Since the initiation of this procedure on 1 March 1979, there have been no incidents of erratic or hostile behavior during the initial phase of confinement". Only fifteen minutes of exposure was enough to ensure that the potential for violent or aggressive behavior had been reduced, the report observed.^[4]

Facilities painted

• Baker-Miller pink rooms at the Naval Correctional facility in Seattle, WA beginning in 1979
• Santa Clara County jail
• California VA psychiatric hospital
• San Bernardino youth clinic

Effects

Research has shown conflicting results on the effects of Baker-Miller pink.^[5] While the initial results at the Naval Correctional facility in Seattle were positive, calming those exposed, inmates at the Santa Clara county jail were trying to scratch the paint from the walls with their fingernails when exposed for more than fifteen minutes. At John Hopkins, appetite suppression was observed and studied.

In culture

The band Bakers Pink is named after the Baker-Miller pink phenomenon.

A 2013 book, entitled Drunk Tank Pink, is named for the color. Written by Adam Alter, a professor of marketing and psychology at New York University's Stern School of Business, the book describes how features of the environment—including colors—shape how people think, feel, and behave.^[6]

See also

• List of colors

References