Objective: The “blue and seven phenomenon” has been widely researched in many countries since it was first reported by Simon. Also, following the description of this phenomenon, in color and number preference investigated studies, either supporting or different results were reported. We aimed to investigate color and number preferences in a group of physicians and assess possible factors such as gender differences contributing to any observed differences.

Methods: The study group consisted of 164 resident doctors from Ankara Ataturk Training and Research Hospital. Favorite colors were to be selected from the Luscher Color Test, an eight-stimuli color cardboard which was described by Luscher and Scott. Then, the doctors were asked to the number and color which came first to their mind and were told to choose their favorite number between zero and nine.

Results: In the present study, the first color coming to participitants’ mind was blue (40.2 %). While blue was chosen by 45.9 % in males, this ratio was 34.2 % in females. The most frequently preferred favorite color was blue (35.6 %). There was no statistically significant difference in color preference between males and females. Seven was the most frequently chosen number when subjects were asked for the first number coming to mind. Seven was the most often preferred favorite number in males (38.9 %) and females (26.6 %). Also, there was no statistically significant difference among the male and female participitants with respect to number preference.

Conclusion: The results of this study support the “blue and seven phenomenon” and also suggest a relationship between color-number preference and sociocultural content.