Individual differences as predictors of preference in visual art

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art training) as predictors of painting preferences One set of 24 paintings ... Briggs Type) than are other yiewers (see also Knapp, 1964, Knapp. & Wulff, 1963 ...
Individual differences as predictors of preference in visual art R Walter Heinrichs and Gerald C Cupchik, Umversity of Toronto Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the value of personality and background vanables (e g , emotional responsivity, anxiety, parental memones, art training) as predictors of painting preferences One set of 24 paintings was selected, holding theme (sexual or aggressive) constant while contrasting Idealized (12) with Expressionist (12) styles Another set contrasted paintings on the Representational ys Abstract (12) and Linear vs Painterly (12) stylistic dimensions Contrasting pairs of paintings were presented to 48 subjects who rated preference under two instructional sets (objective interest and subjective pleasing) Questionnaire measures of personality and background were entered into step-wise multiple regression analyses, one for each type of preference and each stimulus contrast (8 altogether) Affective characteristics of the viewer (e g , anxiety, emotional responsivity) and parental memories (e g , of maternal affection or expressivity) predicted subjective preference For example, subjects who remembered their mothers as either expressive or affectionate preferred Idealized versions of sexual and aggressive paintings Artistic training and background emerged only in relation to objective preferences The study of aesthetic preference in relation to personality is grounded on the assumption that what a yiewer likes is determined in part by the yiewer's own qualities and characteristics This poses two basic problems for the psychological aesthetician The first is descriptiye, the other, explanatory First, it must be demonstrated that, indeed, significant empincal relations exist between a yiewer's preference and his or her character traits, emotional disposition, and personal background Once this has been established, consideration must be giyen as to why these relations exist Why does a pattern of personality yariables associate with any giyen configuration of aesThe present studv was conducted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master s Degree in Psychology at the University of Toronto by the first author We would like to thank Rolf Kroger and Constantine Poulos for their helpful comments on the manuscript Requests for reprints should be sent to Gerald C Cupchik Universitv of Toronto Scarborough Campus, Life Sciences Division, Scarborough Ontario, Canada MIC 1A4 Journal of Personahty 53 3, September 1985 Copynght © 1985 by Duke Universitv Press CCC 0022-3506/85/$! 50

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thetic stimulus yariablesi^ Much of the empincal literature has focused on the search for associations (Juhasz & Paxon, 1978, Kloss & Dreger, 1971, Roubertoux, Carlier, & Chaguiboff, 1971), while the explanatory problem has been addressed in a rich, albeit conjectural, manner by psychodynamically oriented writers (Kris, 1952, Machotka, 1976, Pfister, 1913, 1923) Empincal associations haye been examined by correlating preference for one style oyer another with batteries of personality scales Stylistic classifications which haye been studied in this way include ' geometric" ys "nongeometnc paintings (Kloss & Dreger, 1971), Cubist ys Surrealist (Juhasz & Paxon, 1978), and representational ys abstract (Roubertoux et al , 1971, Tobacyk, Bailey, & Myers 1979) Results demonstrate, for example, that "reseryed" yiewers tend to prefer "expressionist abstraction" and art that conveys a subdued emotional tone Those who prefer Cubism to Surrealism are more "internal" on the Locus of Control Scale, while those who prefer representational to abstract art are less "intuitiye" (MyersBriggs Type) than are other yiewers (see also Knapp, 1964, Knapp & Wulff, 1963, Tobacyk, Myers, & Bailey, 1981) One notable limitation of these and similar studies is the finding that personality measures rarely account for more than a small amount of yanability m preferences for different kinds of paintings Moreoyer, little attention has been paid to deyeloping aggregates of predictors through multiple correlation and regression strategies as a way of increasing predictiye power Another limitation of these studies IS the tendency to treat preference as unidimensional (l e , "I like this painting more than that one") This unidimensional approach can be refined in accordance with recent findings in experimental aesthetics (Berlyne, 1974, 1976) Finally researchers should be sensitiye to stimulus selection and the problem of defining artistic styles The meaning of these styles m relation to personality and preference must be precisely explicated On the one hand, we haye categories such as Realism, Surrealism, Idealism, or Expressionism These haye been articulated by art historians (not without disagreement or controyersy) and used to distinguish groups of artists working at particular times in history On the other hand, we haye general dimensional qualities of paintings such as representational ys abstract, or linear ys painterly (Wolfflin, 1915/1950) Such dimensions haye been agreed upon by empirical aestheticians as well as art histonans (Berlyne & Ogilyie, 1974, Cupchik, 1974) Both the categorical and dimensional approaches to stimulus selection may proye fruitful when giyen careful consideration The purpose of the present study was to assess the proposition

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that aesthetic preferences can be predicted on the basis of indiyidual differences in background and personality It was hoped that some stimulus dimensions and some subject yariables that merit further study could be identified In this sense the inyestigation may be considered exploratory rather than hypothesis—testing in nature The study differed from preyious efforts in seyeral respects First, while subjects were presented with traditional stimulus contrasts such as realistic ys abstract art, new stimulus contrasts were also deyeloped for inyestigation These included contrasts with a common affectiye theme (sexuality, aggression) but different stylistic rendering (Idealized ys Expressionistic) A purely stylistic dichotomy was also employed, based on the distinction between linear and painterly techniques of painting These stimulus contrasts were chosen on the basis of art-historical scholarship (see Clark, 1956, Haftmann, 1965, Osborne, 1970, Read, 1964, Wolfflin, 1915/1950) Second, the dependent yariable of "preference" was operationallzed to reflect two distinct types of stimulus choice objective, interest-based preference for one type of painting oyer another, and subjective, pleasure-based preference The objectiye-subjectiye distinction was preyiously found to account for processes underlying humor judgments (Cupchik & Leyenthal, 1974) This is also in keeping with the literature of experimental esthetics, which demonstrates that two different response dimensions underlie aesthetic preferences (Berlyne, 1974, Heinnchs, 1984) A third distinguishing feature of the stucly was that instead of relying on a standard personality lnyentory to furnish predictors of preference, we used a combination of questionnaire methods Various aspects of the yiewer's aesthetic sophistication and background as well as family history and emotional style were indexed through standard and specially constructed measures These indiyidual difference yariables were then used as predictors in multiple regression analyses with preferences for the stimulus contrasts as the criterion yariables Method Stimulus Matenals The total set of stimuh included color slides of 48 paintings ' The set consisted of artworks from the fifteenth to mid-twentieth centuries Most of the major artists of this penod were represented Thirty-two artworks were drawn from a pool of 136 paintings which had been submitted to a group of 1 A complete list of stimulus materials used in this study is available from the authors

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18 art students for evaluation The group of expert judges had rated each painting on scales which reflected the importance of sexuality and aggression as themes, the emotional intensity, and the extent to which a painting met the stylistic criteria of Idealized vs Expressionist art Idealization is distinguished by an emphasis on surface qualities of line, form, and color to convey the classical ideal of proportion and perfection (see Clark 1956, Osborne, 1970) Expressionism, m contrast, involves the use of exaggeration, distortion, and abstraction to convey the artist s subjective emotional life (Haftmann, 1965, Read, 1964) All judgments were made on 7-point scales Mean ratings for each painting across judges were used to categorize the slides The categories were Sexual theme. Idealized (n = 8) vs Expressionist (n = 8), and Aggressive theme. Idealized (n = 8) vs Expressionist (n = 8) None of the 32 paintings combined sexual with aggressive content Paired-difference t tests earned out on emotional intensity ratings revealed that both sexual and aggressive Expressionist paintings were more intense than were sexual and aggressive Idealized paintings, t(l) = 3 44 p < 01, t{7) = 2 96, p < 05, respectively The remaining 16 paintings included in the present study were obtained from a set extensively examined by Cupchik (1974) The paintings fell into the following categones linear (n = 4) vs painterly (n = 4), and representational (n = 4) vs abstract (n = 4) Linear paintings are distinguished by an emphasis on outline while painterly works involve merging color areas Cupchik (1974) found that linear paintings were perceived as "colder" and more concerned with ideas than were painterly works The last distinction, representational vs abstract, is self-explanatorv In addition to the set of paintings, twelve affect-evoking photographs in slide format were used to elicit the following pnmary affects happiness, interest, sadness, and disgust (see Cupchik & Poulos, 1984) They were chosen to provide information about subjects emotional responsiveness One measure was based on the subjects self-reports of emotional intensity in response to the photographs (7-point scale) The other measure represented nonverbal emotional expressivity and was objectively assessed by the experimenter on a 3-point scale (no reaction, slight, and strong reaction) Ratmg Scales and Questionnaires Two types of scales were used in this study One set comprised preference scales used to rate the paintings while the other provided information regarding subjects' art background emotional traits, and familv characteristics (see Table 1) Preference scales The paintings were rated on two scales under each of two instructional sets Under the subjective set subjects were presented with a bipolar 8-point scale that measured the relative pleasmgness of tw^ paintings in pair-wise format Lower numbers (1-4) indicated Painting A was more pleasing and high numbers (5-8) indicated that Painting B was more pleasing The second scale was identical in format but involved a judgment of which painting m the pair was the subject's choice for a second.

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