Basic dimensions of experience of architectural objects' expressiveness: Effect of expertise

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the structure of experience of architectural expressiveness of architects and non-architects. Twenty architects and twenty non-architects rated twenty photographs of architectural objects on thirty expressiveness scales. Principal components analysis revealed four factors for both groups of participants: Aggressiveness, Regularity, Color and Aesthetics. In a cluster analysis two clusters of architectural objects were obtained: Choleric (high Aggressiveness and Color) and Phlegmatic (low Aggressiveness and Color, and high Regularity). All objects were highly rated on Aesthetics. Analysis of variance has shown that architects rated both clusters as less aggressive than non-architects. Also, experts rated the Phlegmatic cluster as more aesthetic, while nonexperts rated the Choleric cluster as more aesthetic. These results supported the Processing Fluency model: compared to non-architects, architects processed the expressive information of minimalistic objects (Phlegmatic cluster) with ease, which led towards positive hedonic reactions and higher.