Visual aesthetic preference: Effects of handedness, sex, and age-related reading/writing directional scanning experience

Abstract

Most studies of visual aesthetic preference report that right-handers prefer pictorial arrangements possessing left-to-right directionality and/or containing the region of greatest weight or interest on the right side. However, visual aesthetic preference has also been linked to directional scanning depending on the individual's reading/writing habits. The present study aims to assess the respective role of biological factors, related to the functional specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres, indexed by handedness, and cultural factors (age-related reading/writing habits) in visual aesthetic preference. For this purpose, we tested the effects of handedness, sex and age on visual aesthetic preference in 40 children and 40 adults. Results revealed effects of handedness, sex, and age as well as a relationship between directional scanning, reading/writing habits and handedness. The question of a dynamic model of cerebral specialization based on interplay between cerebral plasticity and cultural/environmental factors is raised. Key words: Aesthetic preference, development, vision, hemispheric specialization, handedness, sex, reading/writing habits.