Abstract
197 naive undergraduate students indicated aesthetic preferences for the backward inclination or the forward inclination of each of four pictures of faces randomly selected. Two were pictures (photograph or line drawing) of the faces of famous artists, the other two of famous scientists. The pictured faces were inclined 7° backward and forward of the upright on the horizontal axis. The criterion of aesthetic preference was unification of the features of the face. Pretesting with trained Ss had established a prediction of preference for the backward inclination of pictures of the artists' faces, those of Tolstoy and Ibsen, and a prediction of preference for the forward inclination of the pictures of the faces of the scientists, Copernicus and Kepler. In the formal experiment the naive Ss gave confidence ratings of their backward vs forward judgments of each pictured face. When Ss' arbitrary judgments are discounted, predictions for three of the four pictured faces are sustained. Some support is lent to Schlesinger's claim that contrasting properties of the faces of artists and scientists determine Ss' preference for the backward inclination of pictures of artists' faces and the forward inclination of scientists' faces. The results encourage expanded study of asymmetry in orientation of faces and refinement of methodology.
Published Version
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