I don't remember any longer when I came across The Lüscher Color Test. I remember that the film-critic Donald Spoto mentioned Color Test in his book The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, about the film-director from England. For his movies, Hitchcock always chose the colors of clothes that he wanted his actresses to wear, and Spoto picked up on the psychological premises that guided Hitchcock's decisions.
When The Lüscher Color Test came out in 1948, critics wanted information about Dr. Lüscher's research—how he could justify the conclusions that he reached about the psychology of color, but could not find where he had done any research. Apparently Lüscher made the decision to write the book, based mostly on his work as a clinical psychiatrist.
Lüscher had a medical degree and a career as a practicing psychiatrist, but his decision not to base his book on accepted research-data led his critics to dismiss the book. For them, his reliance on his own intuition, rather than on verified test-results left them dissatisfied. Never mind that Lüscher did not set out to write something definitive. He only wanted to assist employment counselors, hospital employees, and law enforcement. He also understood something about using colors for packaging consumer products. In any case, pushing the envelope with nothing more than intuition did not win him much acceptance right away.
Another person who tried to push the envelope with intuition was John Douglas, the FBI's famed criminal-profiler who published his first book of case studies Mindhunter in 1993. In Mindhunter, Douglas recalls his involvement in the "Trailside Killer" case—so named for the killer who preyed on joggers and hikers in the parks and forests around San Francisco. As the number of homicides mounted, San Francisco police turned to other law-enforcement agencies for assistance, and the FBI sent Douglas to brief them about the man they were hunting.
With the officers assembled, Douglas told them their suspect would have a blue-collar job and some mechanical proficiency. He would also have a history of fire-starting and cruelty to animals. Then, "after a pregnant pause," Douglas told them "The killer will have a speech-impediment." He said he did not have to look hard at the officers to read their reactions: "This guy is full of shit!" One officer actually asked him, "The wounds look like a stutter-stab to you?" But Douglas had the last laugh. When the police did catch the murderer, they noted he had a severe stutter.
Like Douglas, Lüscher had a sixth sense about profiling. Unlike Douglas, he did not profile crime- scenes. He profiled people by the individual colors they prefer and how they partner-up the colors. He lived most of his life in Switzerland and published The Lüscher Color Test in 1948 in his native German.
The first thing I noticed when I opened his book and took out the eight color-cards was the tone of each color. The "Red" card contained a lot of orange and suggested blood; the "Violet" card had a dark, rich, reddish—dare I say—sexy tone; the "Blue" card was a deep, reassuringly rich blue with little grey or purple undertone; the "Green" card suggests the blue-green of a Conifer forest, but I will also say that Lüscher did not need psychological profiles to identify people's characters. All he had to do was to study the flags of the various nations:
From The Lüscher Color Test
B) page 76: Black/Green:
1. Structural Meaning: “Obstinate Exclusion” or “Prejudiced Self-righteousness”;
2. Here is the “green” insistence on self, with its tendency to consider itself right, is enforced and made even more imperative by “black”.
3. Any attempt by others to exert influence is resolutely shut out.
4. page 137: Physiological interpretation. Frustration at unacceptable restrictions on his freedom of action is producing stress. . . .
5. page 137: Psychological interpretation. Seeks independence and freedom from any restriction and therefore avoids obligations or anything which might prove hampering. He is being subjected to considerable pressure and wants to escape from it so that he can obtain what he needs, but lacks the necessary strength of purpose to succeed in this.
In brief: Frustrated desire for independence and freedom of action.
Most of the dozen or so national flags dominated by green and black serve the Caribbean and Africa.
C) page 82: Red/Black
1. Structural Meaning: “Exaggerated Desire” or “Dramatization.”
2. Action based on and reinforced by revolt leads to impetuosity and extreme behavior aimed at satisfying exaggerated desires.
3. page 155: Physiological interpretation. Stress rising from the frustration of an unwanted situation. . . .
4. Psychological interpretation. Feels trapped in a disagreeable situation and powerless to remedy it. Angry and disgruntled, as he doubts that he will be able to achieve his goals. Wants to get away, to feel less restricted and be free to make his own decisions. (italics mine)
In brief: Frustrated desire for independence.
Again, I found about a dozen national flags dominated by red and black, mostly in the Middle East.
In both instances, I was impressed by the negativity expressed by their "frustrated desire for independence" and the suggestion that the frustration may result from psychological rather than political forces.
Remember that Lüscher grew up in lilly-white Switzerland. It is unlikely that he ever knew people from any other nation. He could not have done his analysis of color profiling anywhere but in a clinical setting, and research in a more local setting. Neither the national flags shown here, nor the nations, themselves, existed at the time he published The Color Test in 1948.