Does Visualization Maintain Dual-Polar Affective Responses When Using Dual-Polar Affective Colors? An Experimental Study

Color is an important attribute in visual interaction. When visualizing binary classification data, colors with opposite affective valence are often used simultaneously—either intentionally or unintentionally. In such cases, whether the affective response evoked in visual interaction maintains clearly dual-polar (either positive or negative) remains unknown. In this article, we propose a user experiment using binary classification maps with two color combinations (similar vs. opposite affective valences) as materials. Sixty participants completed the experiment and we examined the affective qualities through subjective measures (affective judgment questionnaire) and objective measures (cognitive effort and gaze behavior). Our results suggest that the affective response does not always maintain clear dual-polarity. Rather, they can evoke complex affective responses (mixed 45.3%, vacillating 13.5%, and vague 13.6%) and increase cognitive effort. Finally, this study provides insights into the color use in affective visualization, with practical implications for balancing target affective response and cognitive effort in visual interaction design.