Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

Abstract

Geometrical and environmental factors in the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness were assessed by 137 participants in five tests. In the first test, a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm was used to test the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness in geometrical figures differing in shape, verticality, size, and symmetry. Verticality, symmetry, and convexity were found to be important factors in the perception of sacredness. In the second test, participants had to mark the point inside geometrical surfaces that was perceived as most sacred, dominant, and attractive. The top and the center areas were associated with sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness. In the third test, peaks and elevated regions in landscapes were evaluated as more sacred, dominant, and attractive than valley regions. In the fourth test, three figures sharing the same area but differing in horizontal and vertical orientation were evaluated on eight scales. The vertical figure was evaluated as more sacred, dominant, and attractive than the horizontal figure. The fifth test demonstrated the significant role of space seclusion and inaccessibility in the perception of sacredness. Geometrical factors in the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness were largely overlapping.

Musical mode and visual-spatial cross-modal associations in infants and adults

“…Louder sounds are mapped higher than soft sounds (Eitan, Schupak, & Marks, 2008). Other studies have clearly shown the important role of verticality in the processing of emotional stimuli (Crawford, Margolies, Drake, & Murphy, 2006; Meier & Robinson, 2004; Weger, Meier, Robinson, & Inhoff, 2007), and in the perception of particular qualities such as sacredness (Costa & Bonetti, 2016; Meier, Hauser, Robinson, Friesen, & Schjeldahl, 2007). In an embodied cognition perspective, spatial properties of pitch can also significantly bias motor behavior.…”

Visual Tension

“…Symmetry was also related to the perception of balance in visual displays (Locher et al., 1998) and to a more efficient stimulus processing and accurate memory for stimulus configuration (Guy et al., 2017). Asymmetric and slanted stimuli tend to be perceived as less dominant and as expressing lower sacredness than symmetric and upright stimuli (Costa & Bonetti, 2016).…”

“…Vertical stimuli were perceived more tense than horizontal stimuli. Verticality, as opposed to horizontality, is functional to the expression of dominance, sacredness, dynamism, excitement, and happiness, whereas horizontal stimuli are perceived as more static, sad, unattractive, and submissive (Costa & Bonetti, 2016). Interestingly, curves with lower radius were expressing more tension independently from being ascending or descending, also if ascending patterns tend to express positive valence and descending patterns tend to express negative valence, mirroring lip movement in the expression of happy and sad facial expressions (e.g., Kohler et al., 2004).…”

“…Other studies have shown the preference for other perceptual features as horizontal and vertical lines compared with oblique ones (Latto & Russell-Duff, 2002), spatial frequency with a 1/f spectrum (Graham & Redies, 2010), intermediate complexity (Martindale et al., 1988), and symmetry (Palmer & Griscom, 2013). Costa and Bonetti (2016) have investigated the role of shape, symmetry, verticality, and height in the perception of sacredness.…”

Linear Perspective and Framing in the Vista Paradox

“…Considering that the corridor is 8 m high, this shows an elevation match between the tower top and the corridor. This elevation could have contributed to the sacredness perception of the monastic complex (Costa & Bonetti, 2016). The corridor is 162.26 m long, and it is perfectly aligned with the top of the Asinelli tower (height: 97.2 m; width: 6.5 m at the top and 9 m at the base), which is the main medieval tower of the city (distance from the corridor: 1,407 m).…”