The Psychology of Aesthetics

The psychology of aesthetics is the study of how a viewer interacts with artworks. It is naturally more focused on the response of the perceiver, and less on the object causing the response, such as a piece of art. The psychology of aesthetics explains why something is liked or disliked, and what concepts people associate with aesthetics (Tinio & Smith, 2014).

Source: Image by Miroslav Kaclík from Pixabay

Aesthetic experience

Aesthetic experiences can arise from the appreciation of artworks, such as music, poetry, sculpture, visual arts, nature, and the built environment. The perception and interaction with art can evoke a strong feeling, usually a sense of pleasure.

In the presence of beautiful things, we feel a broad range of emotions, such as fascination, awe, wonder, admiration, chills, goosebumps, and crying. When astronauts see Earth in its entirety from space, they report feelings of awe and self-transcendence. Aesthetic emotions motivate prolonged and repeated experiences (you never get tired of watching a beautiful sunset). We also desire to possess aesthetically pleasing objects.

A distinctive feature of aesthetic experience is that it is not goal-directed but focused more upon the activity itself. Most of the objects of everyday life are utilitarian objects with a specific function. In contrast, a work of art demands that it is experienced aesthetically for its form rather than its function. For example, we often go to botanical gardens or to music performances with the expectation of experiencing emotional uplift. However, form and function interact. For example, attractive people are generally perceived as more competent.

Aesthetic taste

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. What is beautiful to one audience is ugly to another, and those audiences will themselves change over time. Aesthetic taste is rooted in a broader cultural context. For example, people used to prefer a clean-shaven man. But now men with beards are the mainstream. The old proverb that you cannot argue about matters of taste may well be true, but that should not conceal the fact that taste can be developed. For instance, music education can increase music preferences by providing background information and an understanding of the pieces one is being exposed to.

Musical pleasure

Music is one of the most powerful means of evoking aesthetic emotions. Musical pleasure is commonly called “chills” or “frissons.” It is the pleasurable bodily reactions such as goosebumps that many people experience while listening to certain musical passages. Much of music’s pleasure comes from the patterns of melody, rhythm, and sudden changes. An unexpected change in intensity and tempo is one of the key factors by which music provokes a strong emotional response in listeners.

We also enjoy listening to sad music. Sad music helps to channel one’s frustration (catharsis) or unburden negative emotions like anger and sadness. Listening to a sad song while in a sad mood is like someone (a friend) empathizing with your experience.

Complexity vs. simplicity

Aesthetic appeal often follows an inverted U-shaped relationship curve. We dislike things that are either too boring or too overwhelming. An object that is too simple would lead to boredom, while too much complexity that exceeds the perceiver’s capabilities to process would cause distraction. The sweet spot, for most people, is somewhere in the middle. For example: a room with zero décor vs a room packed with clutter. Songs that are too repetitive or purely chaotic.

There is also a beauty in simplicity because people prefer things that are easy to think about. Familiar stimuli are processed faster than complex stimuli. This is due to processing fluency (greater speed and efficiency). The processing of stimuli recruits fewer cognitive resources, and fluent processing elicits positive reactions.

Ambience

Beauty is generated by a situation. The atmosphere or ambiance of a certain situation contributes to the aesthetic experience. Our ordinary experience is seldom obtained through a single sensory source. That is, taste is inseparable from smell and texture. The rich aroma of Starbucks coffee would likely clash with the delicate, fresh scent of sushi, resulting in a mismatched sensory experience. The taste of a very expensive wine wouldn’t be the same if we drank it out of a paper cup. Thus, what we appreciate is not any particular sensation (a smell and texture) but the way in which various elements come together to provide ambience.

Aesthetic sensibility

Openness to experience (“artistic personality”) is shown to be the best predictor of appreciating artworks and participation in aesthetic activities. Individuals with this trait tend to be more intellectually curious, which drives a greater taste for aesthetic experiences. For example, open individuals with greater curiosity not only might listen to music more attentively but also may expose themselves to a wider range of music.

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Aesthetic experiences can contribute to mood regulation. There’s growing evidence that aesthetic experiences (sunsets and sunrises) can have a meaningful impact on our mental health: diminishing anxiety and depression while boosting memory, creativity, and sleep.