Differences in the Semantic Differential of Beauty in the Context of an Individual’s Art and Academic Education

Abstract

The concept of Beauty is a frequently used but poorly defined term. Its interpretation in natural languages is influenced by numerous factors. This study focuses on potential differences in the understanding of the concept of Beauty by subjects who have gone through an academic education or an art education. It uses the semantic differential method with 21 bipolar adjectives grouped into the dimensions of activity, evaluation, and intensity. The results obtained from the analysis of the data from a sample of 2,206 participants (53.8% women) aged from 18 to 89 (M = 40.95; SD = 16.5) revealed that differences in the understanding of the concept of Beauty between those who had an artistic education and laypeople, and between individuals with higher and lower levels of academic education, are rare. For those with an academic education, significant differences (p ˂ 0.001) are only manifested in the activity dimension (specifically in the adjective pairs: Fast/Slow and Strict/Lenient). For those with an artistic education, they only appear in the evaluation dimension (in the adjective pairs: Inspiring/Boring, Inviting/Repulsive, and Pleasant/Unpleasant).