tailieunhanh - The cycle of preference: Long-term dynamics of aesthetic appreciation

Relevant aesthetic considerations in this study relates to three-dimensional forms with a physical representation in space (artefact). Baumgarten’s considerations are a combination of guidelines to advanced aesthetics and general rules about what is more aesthetic than something else. As pointed out by the design researcher Peter Dorm, aesthetic considerations are developed through the creative process [4]. Whether it is the aesthetic considerations which are under continuous clarification in general, if it is the individual designer, who achieves a deeper awareness of the considerations content, or if it is the number of considerations which grows, this study does not give the. | Acta Psychologica 134 2010 233-244 ELSEVIER Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Acta Psychologica journal homepage locate actpsy The cycle of preference Long-term dynamics of aesthetic appreciation Claus-Christian Carbon Chair General Psychology and Methodology Department of Psychology University of Bamberg Markusplatz 3 D-96047 Bamberg Germany ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received 5 November 2009 Received in revised form 10 February 2010 Accepted 13 February 2010 Available online 16 March 2010 PsycINFO classification 2323 2340 Keywords Aesthetics Appreciation Attractiveness Preference Fashion Dynamics Innovation Zeitgeist According to evolutionary psychology people prefer curved objects. We provide evidence that preferences for curved objects might be biologically motivated but can also be at least partly modulated by fashion trends or Zeitgeist effects. In four studies participants n1 38 n2 40 n3 38 n4 38 rated the curvature and appreciation of car models for ten 5-y periods 1950-1999 . A parabolic function of curvature with the lowest curvature for 1980s designs was documented. Further appreciation followed this parabolic trend. We revealed adaptation effects as plausible candidates for triggering such changes in preference. In sum as appreciation of curvature changes dynamically over time any study aiming to find static and general principles of liking regarding curvature is confounded with Zeitgeist effects. 2010 Elsevier . All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Humankind is on a long journey to fundamental universal and stable properties of beauty and the associated psychological concepts of liking and appreciation of and preference for objects with such properties. Fechner was probably the first to approach this topic in his famous Vorschule der Asthetik Fechner 1876 within a psychophysical context by systematically analyzing the physical properties of simple stimuli and aesthetic appreciation. His pioneering research on .