Affinity for Poetry and Aesthetic Appreciation of Joyful and Sad Poems

Kraxenberger, Maria; Menninghaus, Winfried

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02051

Cited by 29 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This is in line with other studies that have found that beauty and liking are highly correlated [ 188 , 189 ]. Nevertheless, it should be noted that beauty is by no means a prerequisite for liking [ 190 , 191 ], that is, stimuli can be liked although they are not beautiful. The close connection between beauty and liking in our data may also be related to our use of the German term schön , which means beautiful but is also used to indicate feelings of liking or pleasure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool

et al. 2017

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Aesthetic perception and judgement are not merely cognitive processes, but also involve feelings. Therefore, the empirical study of these experiences requires conceptualization and measurement of aesthetic emotions. Despite the long-standing interest in such emotions, we still lack an assessment tool to capture the broad range of emotions that occur in response to the perceived aesthetic appeal of stimuli. Elicitors of aesthetic emotions are not limited to the arts in the strict sense, but extend to design, built environments, and nature. In this article, we describe the development of a questionnaire that is applicable across many of these domains: the Aesthetic Emotions Scale (Aesthemos). Drawing on theoretical accounts of aesthetic emotions and an extensive review of extant measures of aesthetic emotions within specific domains such as music, literature, film, painting, advertisements, design, and architecture, we propose a framework for studying aesthetic emotions. The Aesthemos, which is based on this framework, contains 21 subscales with two items each, that are designed to assess the emotional signature of responses to stimuli’s perceived aesthetic appeal in a highly differentiated manner. These scales cover prototypical aesthetic emotions (e.g., the feeling of beauty, being moved, fascination, and awe), epistemic emotions (e.g., interest and insight), and emotions indicative of amusement (humor and joy). In addition, the Aesthemos subscales capture both the activating (energy and vitality) and the calming (relaxation) effects of aesthetic experiences, as well as negative emotions that may contribute to aesthetic displeasure (e.g., the feeling of ugliness, boredom, and confusion).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool

et al. 2017

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“…After the last session, participants should have reported less willingness to do any rereading, in being weary and less motivated. The question, "I like this poem, " was used to evaluate participants' appreciation of it (Lüdtke et al, 2014;Kraxenberger and Menninghaus, 2017). For both questions, readers indicated their agreement with the statements on a 5-point rating scale ranging from 1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally agree.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is the Difference? Rereading Shakespeare’s Sonnets —An Eye Tracking Study

2020

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Texts are often reread in everyday life, but most studies of rereading have been based on expository texts, not on literary ones such as poems, though literary texts may be reread more often than others. To correct this bias, the present study is based on two of Shakespeare's sonnets. Eye movements were recorded, as participants read a sonnet then read it again after a few minutes. After each reading, comprehension and appreciation were measured with the help of a questionnaire. In general, compared to the first reading, rereading improved the fluency of reading (shorter total reading times, shorter regression times, and lower fixation probability) and the depth of comprehension. Contrary to the other rereading studies using literary texts, no increase in appreciation was apparent. Moreover, results from a predictive modeling analysis showed that readers' eye movements were determined by the same critical psycholinguistic features throughout the two sessions. Apparently, even in the case of poetry, the eye movement control in reading is determined mainly by surface features of the text, unaffected by repetition.

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“…Next, participants were randomized into one of two groups: (a) the experimental group, which read the poem; or (b) the control group, which read the cooker description. Participants were instructed to silently read the poem twice, in a calm and attentive manner ( Kraxenberger and Menninghaus, 2016 ). After reading the text, participants answered two questions; one regarding understanding the content (“ I understand the meaning of the text”) and the other an affective estimation of the text (“ In my opinion, the text is pleasant ”).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Let’s Read a Poem! What Type of Poetry Boosts Creativity?

Osowiecka

Kolańczyk

2018

Front. Psychol.

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Poetry is one of the most creative uses of language. Yet the influence of poetry on creativity has received little attention. The present research aimed to determine how the reception of different types of poetry affect creativity levels. In two experimental studies, participants were assigned to two conditions: poetry reading and non-poetic text reading. Participants read poems (Study 1 = narrative/open metaphors; Study 2 = descriptive/conventional metaphors) or control pieces of non-poetic text. Before and after the reading manipulation, participants were given a test to determine levels of divergent thinking (DT; i.e., fluency, flexibility, and originality). Additionally, in both studies, the impact of frequent contact with poetry was examined. In Study 1 (N = 107), participants showed increased fluency and flexibility after reading a narrative poem, while participants who read the non-poetic text showed a decrease in fluency and originality. In Study 2 (N = 131) reception of conventional, closed metaphorization significantly lowered fluency and flexibility of thinking (compared to reading non-poetic text). The most critical finding was that poetry exposure could either increase or decrease creativity level depending on the type of poetic metaphors and style of poetic narration. Furthermore, results indicate that long-term exposure to poetry is associated with creativity. This interest in poetry can be explained by an ability to immerse oneself in a poetry content (i.e., a type of empathy) and the need for cognitive stimulation. Thus, this paper contributes a new perspective on exposure to poetry in the context of creativity and discusses possible individual differences that may affect how this type of art is received. However, future research is necessary to examine these associations further.

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Affinity for Poetry and Aesthetic Appreciation of Joyful and Sad Poems

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool

Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool

What Is the Difference? Rereading Shakespeare’s Sonnets —An Eye Tracking Study

Let’s Read a Poem! What Type of Poetry Boosts Creativity?

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