Page 35 - Studio International - October 1972

complex, whereas others prefer reasonably
orderly objects. More of this later; and
(b) practice, exposure and familiarity factors —
often individuals are found to change their
preferences to the aesthetic object as familiarity
and exposure to it increase.
As a result of his investigations, Eysenck put
forward in 1957 the suggestion of a general
factor in visual art which, he claims,
`differentiates persons according to their
aesthetic sensitivity and which approximates
to some form of "absolute" criterion'. Current
research is underway to test this hypothesis.
The rest of this article will concentrate on
several areas within the aesthetic field where
experimental investigations have produced
interesting findings. The themes chosen for
discussion are: (1) colour preferences, (2) design
judgement, and (3) personality factors and
individual differences. Emphasis will be given to
an appreciation of responses to art and
judgement of aesthetic objects rather than the
creative process itself, and the discussion will be
largely restricted to the visual arts where most
attention has been concentrated.

Colour Preferences
Numerous experiments have been reported in
the literature on colour preferences since
J. W. Goethe wrote one of the first theoretical
texts on colour in 181o, entitled 'Farbenlehre'.
Researchers have tried mainly to discover the
order of pleasantness of single colours and
colours in combination. The effects of hue,
saturation and brightness, together with such
factors underlying preference as length of
exposure, suggestion, and association, have also
been studied. Findings show, in general, that if
coloured chips representing various parts of the
colour solid are taken, with brightness and
saturation controlled, and a number of people
are asked to rank them in order of preference
(either in sequential pairs or from best-liked to
least-liked in one presentation), then there
appears to be considerable agreement between
different people. Blue and red seem to be the
favourite colours, followed by green, violet,
orange and yellow which usually rank low; short
wavelengths are generally preferred to long
wavelengths; and men appear to have a stronger
preference for blue and women for red.
Interestingly, in cross-cultural comparisons,
considerable agreement is still found even when
Europeans are compared with individuals from
the Far East, American Whites and full-blooded
Red Indians, thus providing evidence in support
of a substantial contribution of innate factors in
the determination of colour preferences.
As far as the relationships between colours
and feelings are concerned, studies have shown
that the lighter or the more saturated a colour is,
the more 'happiness' it connotes. 'Warmth'
appears to be communicated by colours that
are dark, saturated and possess redness of hue,
whereas saturation and blueness connote
elegance, and a dark blue colour is generally
seen as having a 'calming' effect. Also, several
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