Aesthetic judgments of novel graphic patterns
Analyses of individual judgments
Publication date
2002-12
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Höfel, Lea
Organisational unit
Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Universität Leipzig
Publisher
Sage Publishing
Series or journal
Perceptual and motor skills
ISSN
Periodical volume
95
Periodical issue
3
First page
755
Last page
766
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
Nein
Language
English
Abstract
Aesthetic judgments were investigated using a combined nomothetic and idiographic approach. Participants judged novel graphic patterns with respect to their own personal definitions of "beauty". Judgment analysis was employed to derive individual case models of judgment strategies as well as a group model. As predicted, symmetry had the highest correlations with aesthetic judgments of beauty. Stimulus complexity was the second-highest correlate of a positive evaluation. Thus, there was agreement at the group level. The judgment analyses, however, indicated substantial individual differences. These included use of symmetry or complexity cues that were contrary to the main group use, e.g., a few participants considered nonsymmetric patterns more beautiful. These findings suggest that exclusive consideration of the group model would have leveled the individual differences and been misleading. The group model is significant; however, the individual judgment analyses represent individual patterns of judgment in a notedly more accurate way.
Version
Published version
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