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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Comparison of aesthetic preferences among Roman and Arabic script readers.

The systemic bias for aesthetic preferences demonstrated by prior research is thought to reflect neural organisation. Research on aesthetic preference and laterality has usually been conducted with participants who read a left-to-right Roman script, e.g., English. In order to determine if the aesthetic judgments were influenced by habitual scanning direction, we administered a geometric aesthetic preference test to 578 right-handed adults who represented a range of script experience, i.e., left-to-right Roman script readers (English); right-to-left Arabic script readers; bi-directional readers of Roman and Arabic scripts; and illiterates. We also administered an asymmetric chimeric faces test. Our findings showed that biases in aesthetic preference were influenced by script direction and pictorial dimensions. In a laterally balanced composition, participants preferred to begin their scan with the object representing Interest and terminate with the object representing Weight, the direction being determined by the script. In an unbalanced composition, participants tended to fixate on content, whether Interest or Weight, and move in a direction consistent with the script.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Aesthetic preference and lateral dominance.

Aesthetic preferences for photographs with the main focal content either to the left or right of the photograph's center were examined in right- and left-handed subjects. Verbal responses or manual responses were required. In one experiment with 261 introductory psychology student-subjects, left-handers more often preferred photographs with the more important part on the left ("left-geared") than did right-handers. Exp. 2, involving 84 right-handed student subjects, showed that left-geared photographs presented on the left side were preferred more often than left-geared photographs presented on the right side, and left-geared photographs presented on the left side were more often chosen when a left-handed manual response was required. Interactions between handedness, position of the stimulus, language hemisphere, and response mode make it extremely difficult to ascertain whether the right hemisphere is really more involved in aesthetic decisions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

'Most advanced, yet acceptable': typicality and novelty as joint predictors of aesthetic preference in industrial design.

Typicality and novelty have often been shown to be related to aesthetic preference of human artefacts. Since a typical product is rarely new and, conversely, a novel product will not often be designated as typical, the positive effects of both features seem incompatible. In three studies it was shown that typicality (operationalized as 'goodness of example') and novelty are jointly and equally effective in explaining the aesthetic preference of consumer products, but that they suppress each other's effect. Direct correlations between both variables and aesthetic preference were not significant, but each relationship became highly significant when the influence of the other variable was partialed out. In Study 2, it was furthermore demonstrated that the expertise level of observers did not affect the relative contribution of novelty and typicality. It was finally shown (Study 3) that a more 'objective' measure of typicality, central tendency - operationalized as an exemplar's average similarity to all other members of the category - yielded the same effect of typicality on aesthetic preference. In sum, all three studies showed that people prefer novel designs as long as the novelty does not affect typicality, or, phrased differently, they prefer typicality given that this is not to the detriment of novelty. Preferred are products with an optimal combination of both aspects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Neuroanatomical correlates of aesthetic preference for paintings.

A study was conducted to determine the neuroanatomical correlates of aesthetic preference for paintings using fMRI. Subjects were shown representational and abstract paintings in different formats (original, altered, filtered), and instructed to rate them on aesthetic preference. Our primary results demonstrated that activation in right caudate nucleus decreased in response to decreasing preference, and that activation in bilateral occipital gyri, left cingulate sulcus, and bilateral fusiform gyri increased in response to increasing preference. We conclude that the differential patterns of activation observed in the aforementioned structures in response to aesthetic preference are specific examples of their roles in evaluating reward-based stimuli that vary in emotional valence.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Reading habits influence aesthetic preference.

The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which aesthetic preference, previously attributed to cerebral dominance, may be determined by reading habits. One hundred and sixty two normal subjects were presented pairs of images, one being the mirror-image of the other, and were asked for their aesthetic preference. Half of the subjects were left-to-right readers (French subjects) and the other half were right-to-left readers (Israeli subjects). We found a significant effect of reading habits on aesthetic preference, with left-to-right readers showing a preference for stimuli with a rightward directionality while right-to-left readers preferred stimuli with a leftward directionality. These findings raise the question of an interaction between cultural factors and cerebral dominance.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Aesthetic preferences: influence of perceptual ability, age and complexity of stimulus.

Aesthetic preferences for overlapping geometrical figures were studied with reference to perceptual abilities and age of 80 subjects in the context of the theory of functional pleasure. According to the working hypothesis, the level of complexity (number of crossings) of the preferred stimulus varies with the subjects' perceptual capacities as measured by an overlapping figures test and an embedded figures test. The results confirm this hypothesis with significant correlations between the two variables. Changes in preference for complexity with age (20 subjects each of 6, 8, 11, and 14 yr.) is seen as related to changes in perceptual ability. The general interpretation suggests that aesthetic preferences are partly based on the pleasure resulting from the quality of functioning of the perceptual mechanisms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Response time and aesthetic preference.

This study investigated the relationship of response time and aesthetic preference for 30 college students who participated in learning about the life of Vincent Van Gogh presented by interactive videodisk. No mean difference pre- and post-test in preferences but a significant decrease in response times were observed. There was little relation between preference scores and response times. These effects may be related to the use of the electronic medium, to the duration of instruction (1 1/2 hr.), and to the stability of aesthetic preference. Results are discussed with reference to art programs and to the use of electronic media in instructional settings and in research.

Art↗
PubMed1997

Consistency in the expression of aesthetic preference in line partitioning.

In experimental enquiries into the aesthetic properties of the golden section, investigators have tended to employ tests which either require the subjects to generate an artifact or require the subjects to choose between artifacts shown to them. These researchers have assumed that the findings from each type of test are equally valid. This assumption was investigated and shown to be tenable for the partitioning of line segments. Experimental subjects (N = 57) expressed an aesthetic preference for the same line partitioning ratios irrespective of the type of test employed.

Art↗
PubMed2006

The impact of self-construal on aesthetic preference for angular versus rounded shapes.

In this article, the authors examine the role of self-construal in aesthetic preference for angular versus rounded shapes. Previous research found an independent self-construal is associated with a confrontation approach to conflict resolution, whereas an interdependent self-construal is associated with compromise. Furthermore, the literature in empirical aesthetics suggests that angular shapes tend to generate confrontational associations, and rounded shapes tend to generate compromise associations. Accordingly, the authors propose individuals with independent self-construals should perceive angular shapes as more attractive, whereas individuals with interdependent self-construals should find rounded shapes more attractive. The authors argue this effect of self-construal should be more pronounced when people expect that their shape preferences will be evaluated by others because culturally consistent responses will be more accessible in this situation. These hypotheses were largely confirmed in a field study that classified logos from a variety of countries and two experiments in which self-construal was experimentally primed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Left and wrong in adverts: Neuropsychological correlates of aesthetic preference.

Twenty left-handed and 20 right-handed subjects were found to differ significantly in their preferences for the left-right arrangement of words and pictures in advertisements. The right-handers preferred the picture to the left of the text, while left-handers had no overall preference, but showed a wider range of individual variation. The results are interpreted as demonstrating an influence of hemispheric specialization on everyday aesthetic preferences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Aesthetic preference and picture asymmetries.

Previous research has shown that when right-handed subjects prefer one orientation of a picture over its mirror image, the more interesting or important content is on the right. Location of content, however, is only one of a number of possible asymmetric aspects of picture composition. To determine whether the relationship between aesthetic preference and cerebral asymmetry is affected by the interaction of different aspects of asymmetric information in a slide, the present study examined both asymmetry of content and asymmetry of motion. The results indicated that asymmetry of both content and motion combined to influence orientation preferences of right-but not left-handers. Thus, at least two asymmetric components of picture composition interact with brain organization to influence aesthetic judgements.

Esthetics↗
PubMed1992

The roles of handedness and stimulus asymmetry in aesthetic preference.

When some pictures are mirror reversed, aesthetic evaluations of them change dramatically. Stimulus features that may be important in contributing to this effect are: (a) location of areas of principal interest or weight in the picture space, (b) cues that suggest a direction of motion within the picture. Dextrals and inverted sinistrals preferred paintings with cues suggesting motion proceeding from left to right over their mirror-reversed versions and also preferred those with weight concentrated in the left portions of the picture space. The explanation that best fits these data is that preference is promoted when the picture content encourages attention to its rightmost portions, thus placing a majority of the picture in the left visual field where it is directly processed by the right hemisphere.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Aesthetic preference and syntactic prototypicality in music: 'tis the gift to be simple.

In the dominant aesthetic theory, composers are said to use unpredictable events to tease the listener, and make music optimally challenging and therefore aesthetically pleasing. We tested this claim that events optimally discrepant from a schema will be most pleasing. Experts and novices evaluated harmonic progressions at seven levels of syntactic prototypicality. Four results emerged: (1) even novices were extremely sensitive to syntactic atypicality; (2) all subjects found atypical progressions more interesting and complex; (3) novices and undergraduate music students preferred harmonic prototypes, contrary to most aesthetic theories; (4) only music graduate students preferred atypical progressions. We discuss the striking sensitivity of novices to harmonic syntax. We describe differences between an aesthetic theory based on information and uncertainty, and one based on schemas and schema divergence. We also consider the tonal conservatism of most subjects. This conservatism constrains aesthetic theories, and may have implications for music's stylistic evolution.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Facial aesthetic preferences among Asian women: are all oriental Asians the same?

BACKGROUND: Oriental Asians have specific aesthetic priorities. However, a common perception is that expectations from cosmetic surgery are similar. The possibility of different beauty criteria between seemingly similar appearing oriental Asians is not recognized. This investigation aimed to identify where a difference in aesthetic values exists between various oriental Asians. METHODS: The study was based on a survey regarding facial aesthetics conducted with two selected groups: 50 Korean and 50 Japanese women. Preferences regarding the periorbital region, nose, lip features, and overall harmony of the face were surveyed. RESULTS: Significant differences in preferred beauty features were identified, especially with regard to the periorbital region. Although a supratarsal crease was found to be desirable in both groups, Koreans preferred a larger fold paralleling the lid margin, with elimination of the epicanthal fold. Japanese women desired thinner lips, with more delicate facial features. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that there is a difference between oriental Asian aesthetic values. Plastic surgeons should be sensitive to different ethnic concepts of beauty and appreciate a range of values rather than assume that all Asians simply prefer "occidentalization."

Attitude↗
PubMed1997

Aesthetic preferences for combinations of color and music.

135 university undergraduates heard 12 preludes from J. S. Bach's Well-tempered Clavier (Vol. 1) while viewing alternating red, yellow, green, and blue colored lights. Their task was to rank-order the lights according to how well they "matched" the music. Preferences for combinations of color and music differed depending on whether the music was in a major or a minor key. The present findings along with those of some earlier studies suggest that aesthetic experience may be heightened when colors are seen that match the mental images music evokes.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1982

The aesthetic preference: overcoming the pragmatic error.

Family therapists share the belief that people simultaneously are parts of multiplicity of contexts, one of which is the family. The family contexts connect people in patterns as part of the unity of all contexts. Family systems, like all other living systems in nature are structured entities governed by such aesthetic principles as symbolic representation, order, patterning, balance, and unity. Our therapeutic techniques have been created to help transform the various patterns of connections within families, our goal being to help increase the degree of personal and interpersonal flexibility and differentiation for each part of the family system. The family therapist is like the artist searching for a beauty and unity of structure. It is through that aesthetic process that flexibility and differentiation are best furthered. Discovering the nature of the meaningful aesthetic arrangements within family systems is the difference that makes a difference in defining ourselves as family therapists. That difference involves us as part of a paradigmatic movement (4, 20) espousing an ecological systems epistemology of mental life.

Art↗