Science Explains Why We Have Favorite Colors

In 2003, one of our most beloved movie heroes, Buddy the Elf, jovially answered his father's business phone call with a question: "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" and audiences found it endearing (Buddy's dad, not so much). What better way to break the ice than discovering your new friend's best-loved color? But why do we care what someone's favorite color is? Why do we have favorite colors at all?
Historically, it's been difficult to empirically explain why we have favorite colors. Research has shown that people often associate colors with feelings, and it was easy to prove that people liked certain colors. However, because there was no standardization of colors, or a smaller subset of colors for scientists to work with, no one could explain why we like certain colors.
Science Explains Why We Have Favorite Colors