Who art thou? Personality predictors of artistic preferences in a large UK sample: The importance of openness

Abstract

The present study examined individual differences in artistic preferences in a sample of 91,692 participants (60% women and 40% men), aged 13-90 years. Participants completed a Big Five personality inventory (Goldberg, 1999) and provided preference ratings for 24 different paintings corresponding to cubism, renaissance, impressionism, and Japanese art, which loaded on to a latent factor of overall art preferences. As expected, the personality trait openness to experience was the strongest and only consistent personality correlate of artistic preferences, affecting both overall and specific preferences, as well as visits to galleries, and artistic (rather than scientific) self-perception. Overall preferences were also positively influenced by age and visits to art galleries, and to a lesser degree, by artistic self-perception and conscientiousness (negatively). As for specific styles, after overall preferences were accounted for, more agreeable, more conscientious and less open individuals reported higher preference levels for impressionist, younger and more extraverted participants showed higher levels of preference for cubism (as did males), and younger participants, as well as males, reported higher levels of preferences for renaissance. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Cosmopolitan cultural consumption: Preferences and practices in a heterogenous, urban population in Switzerland

“…Therefore, it is statistically related to an open and tolerant handling of aesthetic experiences and art objects (Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2009;Roose et al, 2012). This tolerant and open attitudes may appear in quite different shapes in cultural consumption, e. g. as the tendency to appreciate and consume cultural products from a wide variety of different genres, like the cultural omnivore described by Peterson and Kern (1996) or as the disposition to enjoy products and services from quite different cultural and geographic origins, like the cosmopolitan consumer.…”

Likeable Likeness: Personality, Experience and Preference for Abstract and Low Complexity Art

“…Additionally, some of the artworks were presented partially, which impedes further conclusions (Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2009). …”

“…The nature of this relationship is undeniably complex and multidimensional, and therefore scientifically challenging. An artwork has the ability to evoke psychological reactions, influenced also by other factors including personality traits (Chamorro-Premuzic, Furnham, & Reimers, 2007;Chamorro-Premuzic, Reimers, Hsu, & Ahmetoglu, 2009, Furnham & Walker, 2001b, previous experiences (Heinrichs & Cupchik, 1985) and cultural expertise (Seifert, 1992;Waligórska, 2006;Winston & Cupchik, 1992).…”

“…Preference for representational art is associated with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2007), while preference for abstract art seems to correlate with Neuroticism (Furnham & Walker, 2001b), and Extraversion (Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2009). This view on association between extraversion and high rating of abstract compositions contradicts the results of Jamison (1972), who stated that introversion rather than extraversion is related to preference toward abstract forms.…”

The Heritability and Genetic Correlates of Mobile Phone Use: A Twin Study of Consumer Behavior

“…Previous behavior genetics studies have already found genetic influences on how often people use other evolutionarily novel technologies, including viewing television (Plomin, Corley, Defries, & Fulker, 1990;Rowe & Herstand, 1986;Sherry, 2001) and reading books (Friend et al, 2009;Harlaar et al, 2007;Martin et al, 2009) -just as pharmacogenomics studies have found substantial genetic influences on people's responsiveness to recently discovered psychiatric drugs for depression and schizophrenia (Daly, 2010). Also, personality traits known to be heritable influence usage patterns for every communication medium analyzed so far, including television, movies, music, art, books, email, online gaming, social networking sites, and chat rooms (Anolli et al, 2005;Chamorro-Premuzic et al, 2009;Finn, 1997;Hertel et al, 2008;Jeng & Teng, 2008;Kingston et al, 2009;Kraaykamp & van Eijck, 2005;Krcmar & Kean, 2005;Landers & Lounsbury, 2006;McManus & Furnham, Geoffrey Miller, Gu Zhu, Margaret J. Wright, Narelle K. Hansell, and Nicholas G. Martin 2006;Persegani et al, 2002;Ross et al, 2009;Sherry, 2001;Shim & Paul, 2007). Many of these heritable personality traits -especially extraversion, impulsivity, and neuroticism -also influence normal and addictive use of mobile phones (Arns, Van Luijtelaar, Sumich, Hamilton, & Gordon, 2007;Butt & Phillips, 2008;Ehrenberg et al, 2008).…”