Who art thou? Personality predictors of artistic preferences in a large UK sample

The importance of openness

Bibliographic Data

ID5266458
AuthorsTomas Chamorro‐premuzic (Goldsmiths University of London, corresponding author), Stian Reimer, Stian Reimers (0000-0002-9497-0942, University College London), Alex Hsu (0000-0001-7987-9342, University College London), Anne Hsu, Gorkan Ahmetoglu (0000-0003-2804-7778, Goldsmiths University of London)
Year2009
Volume100
Issue3
Pages501-516
Publication date2009-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1348/000712608x366867
PMID19026107
OpenAlexW2168707848
LanguageEN
Citations received35
References cited47

The present study examined individual differences in artistic preferences in a sample of 91,692 participants (60% women and 40% men), aged 13-90 years. Participants completed a Big Five personality inventory (Goldberg, 1999) and provided preference ratings for 24 different paintings corresponding to cubism, renaissance, impressionism, and Japanese art, which loaded on to a latent factor of overall art preferences. As expected, the personality trait openness to experience was the strongest and only consistent personality correlate of artistic preferences, affecting both overall and specific preferences, as well as visits to galleries, and artistic (rather than scientific) self-perception. Overall preferences were also positively influenced by age and visits to art galleries, and to a lesser degree, by artistic self-perception and conscientiousness (negatively). As for specific styles, after overall preferences were accounted for, more agreeable, more conscientious and less open individuals reported higher preference levels for impressionist, younger and more extraverted participants showed higher levels of preference for cubism (as did males), and younger participants, as well as males, reported higher levels of preferences for renaissance. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed

Big Five personality traits · Conscientiousness · Developmental psychology · Extraversion and introversion · Openness to experience · Perception · Personality · Preference · Trait · Aesthetic Perception and Analysis · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Creativity in Education and Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology

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