Order, complexity, and personality contribute to preferences for neatly organized compositions

Which factors can predict aesthetic preferences for images of neatly organized compositions, collected on blogs like “Things Organized Neatly”? In this project, we focused on both stimulus and person properties related to order, complexity, and the balance between order and complexity. Participants (N = 415) indicated their preference for one of two simultaneously presented images (100 pairs) and completed some personality questionnaires (e.g., Personal Need for Structure). In a second (optional) part of the study, participants (N = 84) rated how ordered, complex, soothing, and fascinating they perceived each of 184 images to be. Concerning person properties, individuals with a higher tendency for symmetry, ordering, and arranging were more likely to prefer the images that were perceived as more ordered. Concerning image properties, average perceived order and fractal dimension were associated with preferences for neatly organized compositions. The bigger the difference in perceived order within a pair, the stronger the average preference for the more ordered image in the pair. The higher the fractal dimension of an image within a pair relative to that of the other image in the pair, the stronger the image with the highest fractal dimension was preferred. Although average complexity ratings correlated highly with objective complexity-related measures (e.g.,fractal dimension), average perceived complexity was not a good predictor of aesthetic preferences for neatly organized compositions. Additional analyses focusing on individual differences in aesthetic preferences and its predictors are in progress. Confirmatory follow-up studies will be needed to test the hypotheses generated from this exploratory investigation.status: publishe