Cross-Cultural Empirical Aesthetics

Abstract

AbstractPeople across cultures appreciate objects for their aesthetic qualities everywhere. It is the core issue of cross-cultural empirical aesthetics to explore whether the underlying psychological processes of aesthetic preference are universal. Here the authors review the empirical evidence on both visual aesthetic and music appreciation in different cultures and give an overview of universal psychological and cognitive processes underlying aesthetic appreciation. The authors conclude that people share a common physiological basis and cognitive processes in most cultures in spite of diverse influential patterns varying across cultures. Further research should provide deeper causal understanding of both cross-cultural universality and differences in aesthetic appreciation.