The relationship between aesthetic preference and visual complexity in absract art

Abstract

Ten graduate art students (GAS) and 10 graduate educational psychology students (GES), matched for age and sex, rated 62 reproductions of famous paintings in terms of three categories of visual complexity to form a scale of 15 cards extracted from the ratings. Two further groups of 15 matched Ss sorted the 15 cards of the visual-complexity scale into a forced distribution of three categories of preference. Results showed a significant relationship between rated visual complexity and aesthetic preference. Both groups preferred high complexity. No significant sex differences were found for either group. No relationship was found between aesthetic preference and the E scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) or the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). © 1970, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved.