The impact of self-construal on aesthetic preference for angular versus round shapes

In their view, cultural differences will be evident only when germane cultural knowledge is accessible. When cultural knowledge does not come to the fore, cultural differences will not be evident. Our research examines the implications of this view for predicting aesthetic preferences. We present the results of three studies. In the first study, we examine the incidence of rounded versus angular shapes in actual corporate logos across a set of countries. This study uses cultural differences across national borders as a proxy for variation in the accessi-bility of self-construal. In the next two studies, we use two different methods to directly manipulate self-construal and examine aesthetic preference for the shape of a picture frame and a trademark symbol, respectively. We argue that the impact of self-construal on shape pref-erence will be more pronounced when people expect others will evaluate these preferences (because cultur-ally consistent responses will be more accessible in this situation). Thus, in Studies 2 and 3 we also test whether the effect of self-construal is moderated by public versus private consumption. Public consumption refers to situ-ations in which individuals are aware of the fact that a Authors ’ Note: We wish to thank Jeff Inman, Ajay Kalra, Vanitha Swaminathan, Bob Wyer, and the reviewers for providing insightful comments on an earlier version of this article as well as Angela Lee and Wendi Gardner for sharing their priming materials with us. Vikas Mittal and the associate editor provided extensive and detailed com-ments that improved the article greatly. Correspondence should b