Arkadiusz Urbanek, Anna Borkowska, Wojciech Milczarski, Jarosław Zagrobelny, Jerzy Luty, Michał Białek
{"title":"Bullshit (Sometimes) Makes the Art (Slightly) More Attractive: A Field Study in Gallery-Goers","authors":"Arkadiusz Urbanek, Anna Borkowska, Wojciech Milczarski, Jarosław Zagrobelny, Jerzy Luty, Michał Białek","doi":"10.1177/02762374241237981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374241237981","url":null,"abstract":"Vague, impressive language used in descriptions (bullshit) is thought to make art seem more profound and valuable to the viewer. We studied the effect during art exhibitions in real-life gallery-goers who saw paintings of four artists, each with either simplified, neutral, or bullshitty description. We crafted a typical description of each painting, which we later manipulated in terms of language. A simplified description was modified to be concrete and simplistic, while a bullshitty one was very abstract and vague. After analyzing over 1500 ratings, we found the expressive language of descriptions had a negligible effect on the perceived quality and monetary value of art ( R<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> marginal ≤ 1%). We conclude that, at least for experienced gallery-goers, the description accompanying a painting has little influence, and the art speaks for itself.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140130166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nastaran Kazemian, Khatereh Borhani, Soroosh Golbabaei, Julia F. Christensen
{"title":"Some Effects of Sex and Culture on Creativity, No Effect of Incubation","authors":"Nastaran Kazemian, Khatereh Borhani, Soroosh Golbabaei, Julia F. Christensen","doi":"10.1177/02762374231217638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231217638","url":null,"abstract":"Results remain mixed regarding the effects of incubation tasks on divergent thinking, a type of creativity, generally assessed via the Unusual Uses Task (UUT). Using a within-subjects design, we compared 64 participants’ performance on the UUT, after four different incubation tasks: copy a simple painting, copy a complex painting, 0-back-task, and rest. We hypothesized that an arts-related activity during incubation (here: copy a painting) would boost subsequent creativity. Five different creativity scores were computed from the raw UUT data, and we provide a step-by-step guide for how to compute these: fluency, flexibility, originality, subjective creativity, and usefulness. Creativity was only modulated by sex; women outperformed men on creative fluency. No other variables, nor the incubations, modulated any of participants’ creativity scores. A within-group comparison showed that the unusual uses of our all-Iranian participants were more useful than unique, echoing previous work suggesting differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of creativity.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140064350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Phenomenological Microgenesis of Art Experience: A Qualitative Study of Zero Mass by Eric Orr","authors":"B. S. Funch, Stella Theodoraki","doi":"10.1177/02762374241230911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374241230911","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study is to provide a phenomenological description of the art experience and by doing so, explaining why art is generally associated with an emotional response, but talked about in cognitive terms. The study is based on a microgenetic experiment in which the informants, prior to an interview, encounter a work of art by the American artist Eric Orr. The work consists of a pitch-black space and provides optimal conditions for a microgenetic study with an actual work of art, not a reproduction, which are typically used in microgenetic studies. The study shows a microgenesis in which pure sensation gives rise to an emotional response without any cognitive inference, and only after the emotional response, cognitive functions such as exploration, contextualization, and comprehension take over in the order mentioned.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139867548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Phenomenological Microgenesis of Art Experience: A Qualitative Study of Zero Mass by Eric Orr","authors":"B. S. Funch, Stella Theodoraki","doi":"10.1177/02762374241230911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374241230911","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study is to provide a phenomenological description of the art experience and by doing so, explaining why art is generally associated with an emotional response, but talked about in cognitive terms. The study is based on a microgenetic experiment in which the informants, prior to an interview, encounter a work of art by the American artist Eric Orr. The work consists of a pitch-black space and provides optimal conditions for a microgenetic study with an actual work of art, not a reproduction, which are typically used in microgenetic studies. The study shows a microgenesis in which pure sensation gives rise to an emotional response without any cognitive inference, and only after the emotional response, cognitive functions such as exploration, contextualization, and comprehension take over in the order mentioned.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139807458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Gotthardt, Katrin Rakoczy, Miles Tallon, Matthias Seitz, Ulrich Frick
{"title":"Can Virtual Art Touch Your Heart?—The Impact of Virtual Reality Art on Affect Considering Individual Characteristics and Aesthetic Experiences","authors":"K. Gotthardt, Katrin Rakoczy, Miles Tallon, Matthias Seitz, Ulrich Frick","doi":"10.1177/02762374231221920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231221920","url":null,"abstract":"Since the dawn of digital art, discourse regarding its potential persists. This research investigates how a virtual reality (VR) art gallery impacts positive and negative affect, examining the influences of aesthetic experiences and individual characteristics. It explores the connection between measures of aesthetic experiences (self-assessed, heart rate, and heart rate variability) and how gender influences this relationship. Digital art's beneficial effect is indicated by decreased negative affect after visiting the VR gallery, potentially influencing mental wellbeing. Individual characteristics influence this impact on affect after the VR experience, especially openness to experience and affect before the visit, mediated by aesthetic experience, and expertise mediated by heart rate. The findings highlight the potential impact of gender on subjective interpretations of physiological responses in the VR environment. Specifically, women tend to attribute heightened heart rate, a sign of arousal, while men associate increased heart rate variability, a sign of relaxation, to positive experiences in the VR.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139154446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sijia E. Song, Douglas A. Kowalewski, Ronald S. Friedman
{"title":"Preference for Harmony: A Preference for Structural Simplicity, Familiarity, or Both?","authors":"Sijia E. Song, Douglas A. Kowalewski, Ronald S. Friedman","doi":"10.1177/02762374231216033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231216033","url":null,"abstract":"The preference for harmony (PfH) has been posited to represent an individual difference in the preference for stimuli that are relatively simple, regular, and/or harmonious. We tested whether variations in PfH may also reflect the extent to which individuals prefer stimuli that are more familiar, irrespective of their structural features. To this end, we examined the association between PfH and two behavioral measures of the preference for familiarity, one based on individual differences in the strength of the mere-exposure effect and the other based on preferences for musical chords that appear more versus less frequently within Western musical corpora. Our results showed modest but reliable positive correlations between PfH and both measures. These findings qualify the original interpretation of PfH by suggesting that it at least partially reflects a predilection for stimuli that are more familiar, not just structurally simpler, more regular, and/or more harmonious.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139247456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of an Art Intervention Program Using Ambiguous Image-Text Interactions on Creative Thinking","authors":"Vered Heruti, N. Mashal","doi":"10.1177/02762374231215736","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231215736","url":null,"abstract":"This study examined whether creative thinking improves by utilizing an intervention program based on three types of ambiguous image-text interactions within artwork: (1) ambiguous text, (2) negation, and (3) semantically unrelated image-text. Participants (79) were divided into three groups: “ambiguous-negation-unrelated” group exposed to stimuli 1 + 2 + 3, “ambiguous-unrelated” group exposed to stimuli 1 + 3, and the control group unexposed to any intervention. The metaphor generation test (MGT) and Tel-Aviv creative test (TACT) were given pre- and post-intervention. The results showed the “ambiguous-negation-unrelated” intervention group scored higher on the TACT post-intervention, as compared to pre-intervention, a finding not observed among the “ambiguous-unrelated” and control groups. Furthermore, both art intervention groups generated more utterances overall (literal, conventional, and novel metaphors) in the MGT post-intervention, as compared to pre-intervention. These outcomes suggest this artwork intervention that utilized ambiguous image-text interactions and included theoretical discussion and reflective analysis can enhance divergent thinking.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139260478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oscars won by the Best Picture of the Year: An Empirical Analysis Across the History of Academy Awards (1929–2023)","authors":"Miguel Saraiva","doi":"10.1177/02762374231212136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231212136","url":null,"abstract":"Since 1929, 95 films have been crowned the Best Picture of the Year. Scholars and cinephiles yearly debate their merits and the legitimacy of one winning over the other, and extensive coverage is given by the media to the spectacle itself. But research is generally restricted to prediction models, or correlations with the winners’ demographic variables. There have been few historical studies on the evolution of the concept of Best Picture throughout the ceremonies, measured through the number of nominations and Oscars won in the various categories. Using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis, this article traces that history, showing that such concept has changed with the decades, although it has a relatively cyclic nature. Today, the Best Picture is no longer the most nominated or awarded, and has a diminishing association to Best Director and technical categories. Instead, it is more thematically conscious (Best Screenplay), and favors actresses and supporting players.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135774590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emotion, Language and Aesthetic Expression: On Motherwell and His Art","authors":"Anjan Chatterjee","doi":"10.1177/02762374231208320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231208320","url":null,"abstract":"Robert Motherwell is regarded as one of the great American abstract expressionists. He was highly intelligent and articulate about his art. In this essay, I explore the thesis that the ability to make fine category discriminations, which can be indexed by language, is necessary to produce great art. I argue that Motherwell might not have been as great an artist if he were not so articulate. Relying on a constructivist view, I argue that fine-grained categories of human emotions can be represented in language; language carves out affective space in a way that makes these states explicit and easier to communicate. Ineffability in art implies exhausting the effable. Being articulate about emotions allows one to reach for higher states of ineffability and aspire to great art.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136135080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does Dance Expertise Enhance Sensitivity? A Comparative Study","authors":"Anna Izountouemoi, Francisco Esteves","doi":"10.1177/02762374231206720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231206720","url":null,"abstract":"The overall aim was to study the impact of dance expertise in relation to emotional expressivity and emotional sensitivity, by comparing dance experts and nonexperts. The results are based on a survey answered by 120 individuals, consisting of the Berkeley Emotional Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ) and the Emotional Sensitivity Questionnaire (ESS). Dance experts in comparison to nonexperts scored higher on ESS, more specifically, other-directed sensitivity, that is, the positive interpersonal sensitivity subscale. No significant differences were obtained on negative egocentric sensitivity, the other subscale of ESS, and neither regarding emotional expressivity. However, it was found that those with more frequent dance habits scored higher on the Impulse Strength subscale of the BEQ. Our findings point out the relationship between dance and our ability to perceive emotions, which could have interesting educational and clinical implications. Lastly, we discuss current and future perspectives on the topic.","PeriodicalId":45870,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Studies of the Arts","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134902394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}