Aesthetic preference of object position on pictures

Abstract

In this study three hypothesis were evaluated. The first claims that the golden section position is an ideal position of an object on a picture and that this position does not depend on picture shape, or on the number of objects on it. According to the second hypothesis, the aesthetically optimal effect is achieved when the focus is on the right side of the picture ( for asymmetrically composed pictures). According to the third hypothesis, there is an influence of previous stimulation on aesthetic experience; that is, because of the monotony, the aesthetic preference of observers will change. An experiment was done, with two sections. In the first section, subjects were asked to put a little black circle, on three different shapes of cards (square, golden rectangle and rectangle), in a such way that the given configuration is the most beautiful one in their own opinion. The second section of the experiment was almost identical to the first one, with the exception that the subjects were asked to put two circles on each of the cards. Each one of the three hypothesis was confirmed by the results of this experiment. The preferred position of the circle is the same as the position of the golden section and it does not change with the change of card shape and number of objects. There is a clear preference of the upper-right corner of cards. The preferred position of an object is changed with repetition of the same stimulation (the same shape of cards and the same number of circles).