Altar-ing aesthetic emotions: Exploring responses to ecologically valid beauty stimuli and their relationship to trait engagement with beauty.

Abstract

Few studies have examined aesthetic emotional responses to ecologically valid beauty stimuli, and even fewer have done so with a comprehensive measure of a full range of possible aesthetic emotions. Study 1 examines beauty appreciators’ (N = 41) aesthetic emotional reactions to a wide range of stimuli (wild nature; Nez Perce Tribal artifacts; moral beauty of human elders; and slides of architecture, paintings, and nature). All stimuli evoked significantly higher levels of prototypical, pleasing, and epistemic aesthetic emotions and lower negative aesthetic emotions than those in a comparison condition (an unadorned hallway). The more ecologically valid the beauty experiences were, the higher the levels of reported aesthetic emotions. Trait levels of appreciation of beauty (AoB) significantly, but weakly, predicted levels of aesthetic emotions with some of the beauty stimuli. A subset of this sample (n = 14) indicated that slides of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture arouse similar levels of aesthetic emotion, with a trend toward Art Nouveau stimulating higher levels of epistemic aesthetic emotions. In Study 2, participants (N = 124) were randomly assigned to observe either a hand-carved painted antique Chinese temple altar in an exhibit room of a gallery or in an unadorned room of similar size. Results indicated much higher levels of aesthetic emotions experienced in the altar room than in the plain room. The levels of aesthetic emotions were mildly but significantly predicted by levels of trait AoB. General discussion included recognizing moral beauty as bona fide stimuli for aesthetic emotions.

The Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA) in Farsi language: A scale validation and cultural adaptation study.

“…However, there are also interindividual differences in individuals’ responsiveness to different types of aesthetic stimuli, regardless of culture (Afhami & Mohammadi-Zarghan, 2018; Belfi et al, 2018; Carlson et al, 2016; Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2009; Fayn et al, 2015; Jacobsen, 2004; McManus & Furnham, 2006; Rentfrow et al, 2011). There is evidence to suggest that some people are simply more or less responsive to aesthetic stimuli in general (Brook, 2022; Diessner et al, 2020; Nelson, 1985; Saarikallio et al, 2013). Given the strong cultural impacts on what people like, it is reasonable to ask whether culture also impacts aesthetic responsiveness.…”

Experiencing Beauty in Everyday Life

“…Beauty surrounds us; we may seek it out intentionally or happen upon it by accident. Humans' ability to perceive and appreciate beauty, their sense of beauty, has been found to have a number of influences, including guiding attention 1,2 , eliciting and enhancing emotions 3,4 , and reducing stress 5 . But why are we able to see and appreciate beauty in the first place?…”