What is it about?
We showed that an average beauty target painting was rated as higher in beauty when it was paired with a lower beauty context painting than with a higher beauty context painting. This is called a contrast effect. Interestingly, this contrast effect pattern was found whether the context paintings were of a similar (abstract) or different (representational) style as the target painting, whether context-target pairs were presented sequentially or simultaneously, and whether participants rated either 1 or 5 context-target pairs.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
On the applied side, our results suggests that the perception of beauty can be manipulated by context. On the theory side, our consistent finding of contrast effects in all conditions challenges current accounts of context effects on aesthetic judgments. To explain our findings, these accounts will need to better specify how participants perceive and assess the similarity of pairs of paintings.
Perspectives
An interesting aspect of this study is that it shows that the perception of beauty can be influenced by one's context, rather than being influenced solely by characteristics of the "beholder" and of the object that is being evaluated.
Professor Glen E. Bodner
Flinders University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Context effects on beauty ratings of abstract paintings: Contrast, contrast, everywhere!, Psychology of Aesthetics Creativity and the Arts, August 2018, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/aca0000146.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
