Abstract
Left-to-right readers are assumed to demonstrate a left-to-right bias in aesthetic preferences and performance evaluation. Here we tested the hypothesis that such bias occurs in left-to-right reading laypeople and gymnastic judges (n = 48 each) when asked to select the more beautiful image from a picture pair showing gymnastic or non-gymnastic actions (Experiment 1) and to evaluate videos of gymnasts’ balance beam performances (Experiment 2). Overall, laypeople demonstrated a stronger left-to-right bias than judges. Unlike judges, laypeople rated images with left-to-right trajectory as more beautiful than content-wise identical images with right-to-left trajectory (Experiment 1). Also, laypeople tended to award slightly more points to videos showing left-to-right as opposed to right-to-left oriented actions (Experiment 2); however, in contrast to initial predictions the effect was weak and statistically unreliable. Collectively, judges, when considered as a group, seem less prone to directional bias than laypeople, thus tentatively suggesting that directionality may be an issue for unskilled but not for skilled judging. Possible mechanisms underlying the skill effect in Experiment 1 and the absence of clear bias in Experiment 2 are discussed alongside propositions for a broadening of perspectives in future research.
Highlights
Asymmetry in scanning habit established through reading and writing in one particular direction over years has been proposed as one mechanism eliciting directional bias in tasksrelated to reading and writing (Kazandjian and Chokron, 2008; Vaid, 2011; Karim et al, 2016)
We tested the hypothesis that such bias is evident in left-toright reading laypeople and gymnastic judges when selecting the more beautiful image from a vertically aligned picture pair (Experiment 1) and when evaluating gymnasts’ balance beam performances (Experiment 2)
Data from Experiment 1 is in favor of the left-to-right bias in aesthetic preference
Summary
Asymmetry in scanning habit established through reading and writing in one particular direction over years has been proposed as one mechanism eliciting directional bias in tasks (un)related to reading and writing (Kazandjian and Chokron, 2008; Vaid, 2011; Karim et al, 2016). With regard to aesthetic preferences, left-to-right readers tend to perceive a stimulus (e.g., picture, painting, landscape photograph) with left-to-right orientation and/or the region of interest or weight on the right side as more beautiful than a horizontally mirrored version of the same stimulus (e.g., Christman and Pinger, 1997; Nachson et al, 1999; Chokron and De Agostini, 2000; Ishii et al, 2011; Treiman and Allaith, 2013; Friedrich et al, 2014). Participants are asked to select the picture from the pair that they think looks aesthetically more pleasant or beautiful Using such methodology and counterbalancing the vertical position of pictures with left-to-right and right-to-left content within pairs, left-to-right reading individuals were shown to preferentially identify pictures with a left-to-right orientation as aesthetically more pleasant or beautiful. Findings from this research highlight the important role of scanning habit and can be seen in line with the processing fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure, which basically states that “the more fluently the perceiver can process an object, the more positive is his or her aesthetic response” (Reber et al, 2004, p. 365)
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