Individual differences in preference for curvature

Abstract

[eng] People tend to prefer objects with curved contours to objects with sharp contours (Bar & Neta, 2006; Palumbo & Bertamini, 2016). Nevertheless, as with other aesthetic features (Jacobsen, 2004), there are also considerable differences among people in the extent to which they prefer curvature. The aim of the research presented here was to explore the possible reasons for such differences. Specifically, we sought to determine whether individual differences in preference for curvature were explained by participants’ interest in art, studies, openness to experience, intelligence or sex. Thus, we asked 42 participants to perform a 2AFC preference for curvature task (Munar, Gómez-Puerto, Call & Nadal, 2015), answer questions of a Visual Art Interest and Education Scale (VAIES), answer the openness to experience scale from the NEO-PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and Raven’s intelligence test. Linear mixed effects modeling was used to predict participants’ preference for curvature using their experience with art, openness to experience, intelligence scores, studies, and sex as predictors. We found that openness to experience had a significant negative effect on the probability of choosing the curved alternative and that the probability of choosing the curved alternative was higher for women than for men. The effect of openness is weaker for art students than for others. There were no significant effects of intelligence. These results are discussed in terms of the multiplicity of cognitive and affective processes contributing to aesthetic appreciation (Leder & Nadal, 2014).