An Attempt to Explain Visual Aesthetic Appreciation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6072079
AutoresBjørn Grinde (0000-0003-1216-2851, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, autor correspondente), Tammy-Ann Husselman (0000-0002-3206-5496, University of Lancashire)
Ano2023
Volume57
Fascículo3
Páginas840-855
Data de publicação2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoIntegrative Psychological and Behavioral Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1932-4502 • E-ISSN: 1936-3567
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12124-022-09701-8
PMID35583718
OpenAlexW4280494494
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas63

We suggest an evolutionary based explanation for why humans are preoccupied with aesthetic aspects of visual input. Briefly, humans evolved to be swayed by positive and negative feelings in the form of rewards and punishments, and to pursue situations that induce rewards, even when the feeling is not sufficiently strong to be recognized as a reward. The brain is designed to offer rewards when a person focuses on certain types of visual stimuli. For example, warm colors are typically pleasant because they are associated with edible fruits, and complex images appeal to curiosity. At some point people began exploiting these types of brain rewards by beautifying objects and creating art. The utility of objects, and the associative (or communicative) aspects of art, may dominate the design, but the artist tends to add aesthetic elements. These elements imply visual aspects that do not add to the functional value or evoke memories or associations based on easily recognized features in the picture. The adaptive rationale for the rewards offered by the aesthetic elements should help explain human aesthetic appreciation

Aesthetics · Appeal · Art · Associative property · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Curiosity · Feeling · Point (geometry · Aesthetic Perception and Analysis · Color perception and design · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology