Are the Dimensions Underlying Aesthetic and Affective Judgment the Same?

Abstract

To investigate whether aesthetic and affective judgment are similar, ninety-six subjects rated twenty-four art pictures varying in theme and date of creation as well as twenty-three emotion inducing slides (IAPS) representing different emotional qualities on nine bipolar 8-point scales, e.g., warm-cold, meaningful-not meaningful. Factor analyses performed separately for each picture set revealed two basic dimensions, named cognitive and emotional factors, explaining about 60 percent of the variance. In the case of artworks, the dominant factor was constituted by cognitive scales (meaningful, interesting, simple); regarding the affective slides, the main factor was constituted by emotional scales (warm, emotional, arousing). ANOVAs confirmed the expected differences between themes and date of creation for the art picture as well as the differences between emotional qualities of the IAPS for both, the cognitive and the emotional factor. Proportion of variance of the ratings explained by gender, age, and education was low. Overall, results suggest that looking at art objects is a predominantly cognitive process requiring understanding whereas looking at emotional pictures evokes feelings with cognitive processes being only marginally involved.