Just how stable are stable aesthetic features? Symmetry, complexity, and the jaws of massive familiarization.

Author(s)
Pablo Tinio, Helmut Leder
Abstract

Using both group- and individual-level analyses, we explored the complex and dynamic effects of basic visual features on aesthetic judgment. Specifically, the mediating influence of familiarization on the combined

effects of complexity and symmetry on aesthetic judgment was examined. Experiment 1 showed that symmetry and complexity are indeed powerful determinants of aesthetic judgment. Experiment 2 demonstrated that massive familiarization generated contrast effects for complexity: participants familiarized to simple stimuli subsequently judged complex stimuli more beautiful and participants familiarized to complex stimuli subsequently judged simple stimuli more beautiful. In contrast, moderate

familiarization in Experiment 3 did not elicit the above effects. Group-level analyses were augmented with judgment analyses of individual response patterns resulting in a more comprehensive assessment of aesthetic judgment.

Organisation(s)
Journal
Acta Psychologica
Volume
130
No. of pages
10
ISSN
0001-6918
Publication date
2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
5010 Psychology
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/just-how-stable-are-stable-aesthetic-features-symmetry-complexity-and-the-jaws-of-massive-familiarization(ee57f38c-b971-4ac6-91da-0081a0d8d8e8).html