The influence of personality traits, previous experience of art, and demographic variables on artistic preference

This study is concerned with the factors which determine individual differe nces in preference for paintings. A model, based on previous findings, was proposed for artistic preference which included personality traits, demogra phic variables, and previous experience of art. Four distinct styles of pai ntings (Representational, Abstract, Pop-Art and Japanese traditional) were used to measure preference for art. Participants (101) rated 40 paintings o n several rating scales. It was found that conservatism, sex, familiarity a nd certain measures of prior exposure to art were strongest predictors of p reference. The model as a whole accounted for between 16 and 32% of the var iance in preference, indicating that other factors were influencing prefere nce. Various links between personality variables and preference found by pr evious research were not replicated. The concept of preference for, or avoi dance of novelty was used to attempt to integrate the findings from this an d other studies. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.