A cross-cultural comparison for preference for symmetry: Comparing British and Egyptians non-experts
The aesthetic appeal of symmetry has been noted and discussed by artists, historians and scientists. To what extent this appeal is universal is a difficult question to answer. From a theoretical perspective, cross-cultural comparisons are important, because similarities would support the...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Drustvo Psihologa Srbije
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Psihologija |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0048-5705/2017/0048-57051703383B.pdf |
| Summary: | The aesthetic appeal of symmetry has been noted and discussed by artists,
historians and scientists. To what extent this appeal is universal is a
difficult question to answer. From a theoretical perspective, cross-cultural
comparisons are important, because similarities would support the
universality of the response to symmetry. Some pioneering work has focussed
on comparisons between Britain and Egypt (Soueif & Eysenck, 1971, 1972),
including both experts and naive subjects. These studies confirmed some
degree of universal agreement in preferences for simple abstract symmetry. We
revisited this comparison after almost half a century. We compared
preferences of naïve students in Egypt (n = 200) and Britain (n= 200) for 6
different classes of symmetry in novel, abstract stimuli. We used three
different measurements of complexity: Gif ratio, Edge length and the average
cell size (average blob size, ABS). The results support Soueif & Eysenck’s
findings regarding preferences for reflectional and rotational symmetry,
however they also throw new light on a greater preference for simplicity in
Egyptian participants already noted by Soueif & Eysenck (1971). |
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| ISSN: | 0048-5705 1451-9283 |