Special Image Contents, Personality Features, and Aesthetic Preferences

Abstract

The theory of aesthetic emotion predicts higher aesthetic appraisals when images fit the beholder's main motivations, and, moreover, a relative equivalence between representations of violent scenes or incongruent configurations sensu strictu (Bonaiuto, 1966, 1983, 1998). Our new study aimed to specify distinctions among conflictual images, providing insights into taste formation processes that prefigure substantial differences found in studies on adulthood. Ten pairs of color laser reproductions of paintings by great artists were prepared, contrasting harmonious configurations with scenes strongly contradicting expectations. Five pairs contained an openly aggressive scene juxtaposed by a calm one; the others a structurally very incongruous picture juxtaposed by a congruent one. We first examined 500 children (7-10 years old), with appropriate scales, selecting two extreme subgroups: very aggressive and pro-social subjects (“altruists”). The image pairs were individually presented, recording the preferences. Data show a clear rejection of aggressive images by altruists, and attraction for such images in aggressive participants. The latter, nevertheless, had a greater liking for the incongruous images, that more indirectly and symbolically correspond to destructive drives. Socio-cultural variables were found to be non-influential.