Absorption and Appreciation of Visual Art

Abstract

For 37 participants, 16 men and 21 women, scores on the Tellegen Absorption Scale significantly correlated with liking for abstract paintings but not with liking for representational ones. After completing the scale, each participant viewed 20 paintings in quasirandom order, 10 of representational works and 10 of abstract ones. Each was rated on a scale from 1 for strongly disliked to 5 for strongly liked. The Pearson correlation of .48 for abstract paintings was significant, while that of .16 for representational ones was not.