ERIC Number: EJ1088622
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-0419
EISSN: N/A
What I Like Is How I Am: Impact of Alexithymia on Aesthetic Preference
Giannini, Anna Maria; Tizzani, Emanuela; Baralla, Francesca; Gurrieri, Grazia
Creativity Research Journal, v25 n3 p312-316 2013
Aim of this work was to explore the impact of alexithymia on art works appreciation, to examine the influence of emotion regulation on art judgment. While observing a painting, the viewer's cognitive structure contains several types of information (semantic, episodic, and strategic) and is the repository of personal traits, motivations, and emotional dispositions that are involved in this interaction. The study of how personal traits influence work of art appreciation, and especially the study of the way emotion regulation impacts on art judgment, was aimed at improving the comprehension of the aesthetic experience construct. One hundred adults, divided into 2 groups (high and low scores in alexithymia), observed 20 works of art and were then asked to give an evaluative judgment on three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, aesthetic. As hypothesized, the two groups had significant differences in their aesthetic preferences. Although subjects without affective regulation disorders preferred excitation related pictures, subjects with alexithymia appreciated works evoking emotions of pleasure inhibition. These results confirm the impact of personality traits on aesthetic preference and support the need to include emotional regulation in a comprehensive model of aesthetic experience.
Descriptors: Art Appreciation, Aesthetics, Likert Scales, Art Products, Emotional Response, Personality Traits, Individual Characteristics, Foreign Countries, College Students, Inhibition, Surveys
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Italy
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A