Effort after meaning and the hedonic value of paintings

Two experiments tested the prediction that providing the viewer with information about and semi‐ paintings, in the form of titles and descriptions, would increase the paintings' perceived meaningfulness and hedonic value. The meaningfulness prediction was supported in both experiments. The resu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The British journal of psychology 2003-02, Vol.94 (1), p.99-110
Main Author: Russell, Phil A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aesthetics
Analysis of Variance
Applied psychology
Art criticism
Arts. Literature
Availability
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology
Esthetics - psychology
Evaluation
Experimental psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Information
Judgment - physiology
Male
Meaning
Neurology
Painting (Art)
Paintings - psychology
Perception
Psychological aspects
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Students - psychology
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Description
Summary:Two experiments tested the prediction that providing the viewer with information about and semi‐ paintings, in the form of titles and descriptions, would increase the paintings' perceived meaningfulness and hedonic value. The meaningfulness prediction was supported in both experiments. The results of one experiment, using a between‐participants design, failed to support the hedonic value prediction, but the results of the other, using a within‐participants design, supported the prediction. Failure to find an effect of information on hedonic value in other experiments may result from the use of between‐participants designs that are relatively insensitive to the effects of different evaluative conditions. The results are discussed in the light of the ‘effort after meaning’ theory that part of the pleasure derived from looking at a painting stems from making a successful interpretation of it and picking up the artist's message.
ISSN:0007-1269
2044-8295
DOI:10.1348/000712603762842138