PERSONALITY AND ESTHETIC SENSITIVITY

Transcription

1 RB PERSONALITY AND ESTHETIC SENSITIVITY Rae Carlson Educational Testing Service and Janet Parker California State College, Fullerton This Bulletin is a draft for interoffice circulation. Corrections and suggestions for revision are solicited. The Bulletin should not be cited as a reference without the specific permission of the authors. It is automatically superseded upon formal publication of the material. Educational Testing Service Princeton, New Jersey May 1969

2 PERSONALITY AND ESTHETIC SENSITIVITY Rae Carlson and Janet Parker Ca~ifornia State College, Fullerton Abstract In an exploratory study of affective responsiveness as a component of esthetic sensitivity 62 college 2s took the Allport-Vernon-Llndzey Study of Values and described on an antonym checklist their affective res~onses to photogra.phs portraying "forces of nature. II One-third of the group with extreme high and low AVL Aesthetlc value scores were compared on measures of affective responsiveness and on Sensation-Intuition and Perceiving JUdging scales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator As predicted> high esthetic value ~s were more acceptant of stimulus materials (p = 005), more often perceptive (p =,025) and intuitive (p = 05) types on the METI Results support a typological conception of esthetic sensltlvityj and suggest that diregt) "pre-artistic" emotional responsiveness to phenomena expressed ln art forms is a component of this personallty pattern.

3 PERSONALITY AND ESTHETIC SENSITIVIT~ Rae Carlson and Janet Parker Cg1ifornia State College, Fullerton The esthetically sensitive person is portrayed in a growing body of research (Child, 1962, 1965, 1968) as one open to experience, independent in judgment, and capable of adaptive regression. Such a pattern is remarkably similar to that of the creative artist (MacKinnon, 1962), and appears to be quite general, crossing boundaries of cultural background, sex, and (Within limits) age. The consistency of this emerging pattern invites further exploration of the role of esthetic responsiveness in personality. Criteria of esthetic sensitivity in current research have been limited largely to appreciation of formal artistic expression--either in terms of personal preferences or judgments in agreement with expert opinion (Child, & Iwao,. 1968). Yet the underlying conception of esthetic sensltivlty implies more: a quallty of responsiveness to a wider range of experience than that of the arts, a spontaneous structuring of experience in terms of affective response to implications. The esthetically sensitive person is capable of "going beyond the information given" and discovering in objects latent meanings which evoke a feeling response. The present study attempts to extend inquiry on personality correlates of esthetic sensitivity by examining responsiveness to phenomena outside the "artistic" domain An important consideration warns against any facile equation of affective responsiveness with esthetic appreciation. As Langer (1948) points out, a clear distinction needs to be made between ".. testhetic emotion'..,which springs from an intellectual triumph, from overcoming barriers of word-bound thought and

4 -2- achieving insight into literally 'unspeakable 1 realities... " (p. zu) and a ready access of personal feeling which may as easily inhibit as enhance appreciation of artistic meaning. Yet if "esthetic emotion" and personal feeling are not identical, neither are they incompatible A formulation most consistent with present knowledge would seem to be that affective responsiveness is a continuing basis for esthetic sensitivity; that appreciative delight in artistic expression through the constraints of form develops from--and is sustained by- a capacity for being moved by intuited meanings Linkages among creative expression, esthetic sensitivity, affective responsivenes~and their personological context have not yet been clearly illumined by ex Ls t Lng r ~se' '.~\J. Moreover, inquiry in "experimental esthetics" remains somewhat peripheral to this problem, since a search for universal qualities evoking esthetic response tends to "control" for important aspects of individuality; such object-centered research tends to seek preference orders for stimulus objects without linking such judgments to enduring personality characteristics of the judges. However, as a tentative formulation, we may consider esthetic sensitivity as a "symptom" of a personality organization which includes openness to experience, intuitive perception, and affective response to intuited meanings. Such a personality organization would be independent of training in or exposure to artistic forms; such a personality organization may be a necessary, but not sufficient condition for highly developed esthetic appreciation or creative expression. The present exploratory study of personality organization and affective processes in esthetic perception is based upon the following assumptions:

5 -3-1 Esthetic sensitivity is embedded in a qualitative personality organization and thus must be studied in typological, rather than dimensional terms (Child, 1968, p 29). 2, Among adults and late adolescents, those persons for whom esthetic values are central in a value structure are most likely to show a developed personality organization characterized by openness, intuitive perception, and affective engagement in implicit meanings discovered in objects. 3 An important component of esthetic sensitivity is affective responsiveness to phenomena expressed in a wide variety of artistic forms, Among the many classes of such "raw materials" of esthetic experience, certain qualities of nature-- the tensions of atmosphere, "The elements"--are, perhaps, unique in theiru~iversalityandindependence of personal history and cultural values; they are represented in such diverse artistic works as the "Ode to the West Wind," the "View of Toledo," the Pastorale Symphony, among countless others, and are equally available in.the everyday experience of all people, Our assumption was that the esthetically sensitive person responds not only to artistic expression, but also, directly, "p:::,p.-a:..~tisticp>lly"to experiential qualities which move the artist, These considerations dictated the method and hypotheses of the present investigation: the study of two groups clearly differentiated on the basis of the value they place upon esthetic experience. Those high in esthetic value were expected to show characteristics found in esthetically sensitive and creative persons--modes of information-processing described by the "functions" of Jungian typology as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1962): (1) openness to experience, reflected in a "perceptive" as contrasted with a "judging" orientation, and (2) responsiveness to implications rather than facts--

6 -4- an "intuitive" as opposed to a "sensing" orientation. Beyond these general personality characteristics, persons high in esthetic value were expected to show greater engagement in specific stimulus materials portraying a range of "forces of nature," by expressing (3) greater acceptance of the stimulus materials, (4) greater personal involvement in such materials, and (5) greater personal involvement in harsh, dysphoric qualities of nature. Method Sub,jects. Subjects included 62 students (31M, 3lF) in an upper division psychology course. This report is based upon responses of one-third of the group obtaining the highest and lowest scores on the Aesthetic scale of the Allport, Vernon, Lindzey Study of Values (AVL). The high esthetic value group (REV) included five males and five females w1th AVL scores ranging from 50 to 59; the low esthetic value (LEV) subjects included nine males and two females, with AVL scores ranging from 21 to 35. While the sex difference in composition of subgroups approaches significance, SUbsequent analyses showed no significant relationships between sex and other variables of the study in either the total class or in responses of the present subgroups; therefore responses of males and females were pooled. Measures and procedure, Measures of esthetic sensitivity were based upon affective responses to 30 pictures portraying "weather elements." The photographs, taken from popular magazines, represented a range of moods-and-forcesof-nature (cloud~ sunsets, fog, storms, ocean, seasonal changes, hurricane, snow, etc,) and were chosen as likely to evoke affective responses. Test booklets provided numbered sets of 12 antonym pairs corresponding to each picture; the terms were taken from Osgood I s semantic differential scales

7 -5- (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957) and included one additional pair ("mine"- "theirs") designed to tap the subject's personal involvement. 2 Each stimulus picture was presented on an opaque projector for 20 seconds; following each presentation, subjects were given approximately 30 seconds in which to record their responses by checking one term in each antonym pair. Instructions emphasized that immediate emotional responses rather than intellectual judgments were desired. Three scores were derived from responses to pictures: (a) an Acceptance score consisted of the number of pictures "accepted" (i e., positive terms predominated over negative terms) minus the number of "rejected" pictures (Le., negative terms predominated over positive terms); (b) Personal Involvement was measured by the number of pictures which a subject designated as "mine"; (c) Tolerance of Discord was scored as the number of times a subject's choice of "mine" occurred along with choices of selected negative terms ("bad)" "barren," "brutal"). Openness to experience and intuitive perception were measured by Perception vs, Judging and Intuition vs. Sensation type scores on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (METI) Data analyses compared frequencies of HEV and LEV subjects classified as Intuitive and Perceptive types on the METI, and proportions of REV and LEV subjects scoring above or below the class mean on Acceptance} Personal Involvement, and Tolerance of Discord Since directional predictions were made, one-tailed exact probability tests were used in evaluating hypotheses. Results The results clearly confirmed hypotheses 1 and 2 relating esthetic values to qualities of openness and intuitive perception. MBTI scores designated

8 -6- seven of the ten REV subjects as Perceptive types, while nine of eleven LEV subjects were Judging types ( p>.025) The importance of intuitive modes of perception for the HEY group is also clear in METI scores. Nine of the ten HEVs were Intuitives, as compared with only five of the eleven LEVs (p =.05) The prediction relating esthetic value to affective responsiveness was strongly supported (p = 005),. All ten REV subjects were high in Acceptance scores; only one of eleven LEV SUbjects scored above the class mean.. Personal Involvement measures failed to differentiate the groups at a statistically significant level. While HEY subjects more frequently designated pictures as limine," the LEV subjects were more consistent (two of eleven) in their rejection of the pictures than were the REVs in their involvement (six of ten)" The relationship between esthetic value and Tolerance for Discord also fell short of statistical reliability. On this measure, LEV subjects were again more consistent (two of eleven) in rejecting identification with dysphoric qualities, while the LEV group was evenly divided (five of ten). It should be noted that somewhat contradictory requirements are built into the Acceptance and Discord measures. To score high on Acceptance (as predicted and found for the HEY subject) one must describe reactions to the pictures in predominantly "positive" terms. To score high on Tolerance for Discord, one must also describe responses in some "negative" terms, and must demonstrate involvement in these ambivalently described pictures. Thus the fifth hypothesis is particularly demanding of differentiated response by the HEY subject; whether the basic hypothesis is wrong, or whe~er the present test is too stringent to permit confirmation in the present data is not established clearly. The

9 -7- results appear promising enough to warrant further study of the relationship of esthetic value to Involvement and Tolerance of Discord. An obvious question is posed by the findings on Personal Involvement and Tolerance of Discord: since the HEV group appears less homogeneous than the LEV group, would the basic relationships hold up if the groups were constituted differently? Unfortunately, only an incomplete answer can be given. However, the partial data available suggest that the relationships between esthetic value and affective responsiveness are not dependent upon the particular cases represented here. When extreme groups are constituted on the basis of a different criterion--positive response to the pictures (i.e., uncorrected number of "accepted" pictures)--one-third of the cases in the present sample (4HEVs, 31 EVs) are replaced by other subjects from the total class of 62. While individual scores are.no longer retrievable, mean scores for these new extreme groups show such wide separation of High and Low Acceptance subjects on esthetic value (AVL means of 44.7 and 244 respectively) and Personal Involvement (limine" choice means of 2L8 and 86 respectively) as to give considerable confidence in the reliability of the relationships found here.. Discussion Several limitations of the present study should be explicitly noted. The findings are based upon a small number of subjects, and are limited by a number of flaws in procedure. The quality of reproduction or projection of different photographs was not standardized; the time limits may have been too brief to allow all subjects to give fully representative responses; familiarity and meaningfulness of semantic differential terms may not have been equivalent for

10 -8- all subjects. More importantly, the present study explores only one of' many possible classes of experience evoking esthetic response, and provides no direct test of the relationship between esthetic perception of these stimulus materials and more conventional measures of esthetic sensitivity.. However, within these limits, the results offer a coherent picture of organization within the person; values, modes of experiencing, and affective responsiveness are related in predictable ways. The present findings tend to confirm the qualitative pattern identified in reported studies of esthetically sensitive and creatively talented persons, and extend the pattern by demonstrating in those who value beauty a differential capacity for personal involvement and affective response to qualities of experience expressed in a wide range of artistic forms. These results suggest, as a further interpretation, that it may be possible to distinguish among three different aspects of esthetic responsiveness: the production of creative work, critical judgment of artistic merit, and a relatively "non-cognitive" appreciative talent. Where previous studies have examined the personological context of creative production and critical sensitivity, the present study suggests that a similar personality organization underlies ar'i':r'ec1a1'.j"e response to esthetic qualities of experience, This interpretation, however, rests upon some assumptions which are built into the methods used here, and poses questions which can only be clarified by further inquiry, I Are semantic differential terms equally "positive" or "negative" for persons who diff'er in esthetic values? This question is particularly important in interpreting the Tolerance for Discord measure; for discord, like beauty, may lie in the eye of the beholder. One who values beauty may find in the brutality

11 -9- of the hurricane an extension of its power, excitement, and freedom; whi.j.e for one relatively indifferent to beauty, the same choice of "brutal" in response to the hurricane picture may mean cruelty, destruction, and personal threat. Until more adequate methods are available for assessing deeply personal meanings, only indirect answers are possible 2, Is the experimental task a relatively alien and difficult one for those low in esthetic value? In its demand for introspectiveness--for the rapid identification and verbal labeling of feeling states--the present task may engage aspects of cognitive ability and style which go beyond the present conceptualization, Further studies, employing less "introspective" methods (e.g., covert measures of arousal or attentional processes: or behavioral choice methods) could clarify the role of such cognitive processes in esthetic responsiveness, 3. Are "the elements" so special a domain as to limit the generality of these findings? Does the impersonality of nature selectively engage introspective people? Would those high in esthetic value also respond to implications of abstract patterns, of persons? Extension of inquiry to other classes of objects would be required to clarify this point. Recent evidence, however, suggests that the basic relationships of esthetic value and affective responsiveness have considerable generality, appearing when quite different research methods are used Levy3 reports two studies establishing significant (p <,01) correlations between AVL Aesthetic value scores and judgments that positive emotions (number of "love" classifications on the Woodworth 6-category scale) are portrayed in a standard set of posed facial expressions. Since these studies, in contrast to the present investigation, are based upon larger groups (lis of 162 and 193), continuous distributions,

12 -10- social stimulus materials, and object-centered response measures, this congruence of findings is encouraging.. The present findings are also congruent with existing work on the personality context of esthetic sensitivity and creative expression, and add to the empirical support for recent suggestions of Baron (1968, p. 22) noting II striking similarities i.n experiencing) in motivation.,, " among the creative, and those of Child (1968) on the typological basis of esthetic sensitivity. Beyond the specific problem of esthetic sensitivity, the findings may have a broader implication for personality study, encouraging methods of inquiry which focus upon persons, rather than processes, and on categorical rather than dimensional approaches to personality,

13 -11- References Baron, F. The dream of art and poetry Psychology Toda~, 1968,, Child, I~ L. Personal preferences as an expression of aesthetic sensitivity. Journal of Personality, 1962, lq, Child, I. L. Personality correlates of aesthetic judgment in college students. Journal of Personality, 1965, J1, Child, I. L. The experts and the bridge of judgment that crosses every cultural gap. Psychology Today, 1968,, 24-29, Child, I., & Iwao,S. Personality and esthetic sensitivity: extension of findings to younger age and to different culture. Jcurnal of Pen::onality and Social Psychology, 1968,, Langer, S. Philosophy in a new key. New York: Penguin, 1948, MacKinnon, D. The nature and nurture of creative talent, American Psychologist, 1962,!I, Myers, 1. B. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Manual. Princeton, ~,J. Educational Testing Service) Osgood, C., Suei, J., & Tannenbaum, P. The measurement of mf:'~ning. Urbana, Ill. The Univ. of Illinois Press, 19")7.

14 -12- Footnotes Ipreparation of this manuscript was aided by a USPHS Special Fellowship awarded the first author and administered by Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N. J. The study was conducted by Janet Parker as an undergraduate project under the direction of Rae Carlson. Grateful acknowledgment 1s made to Delpha Dodge, Connie Mantz, and Helen Pateman for their participation in data collection, and to Miriam Keiffer and William Hall for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. 2Te rms included: ominous-promising, good-bad; heavy-light; love-hate; near-far; gentle-brutal; barren-fertile; mine-theirs; sweet-bitter; dynamicstatic; weak-powerful; awkward-graceful. ~. Levy, personal communication, January 28, 1969.

15 RB PERSONALITY AND ESTHETIC SENSITIVITY Rae Carlson Educational Testing Service and Janet Parker California State College, Fullerton Abstract Carlson, Rae, & Parker, Janet. sensitivity. Princeton, N. J.: 69-37, May 1969, 13 Pl'. Personality and esthetic ETS Research Bulletin In an exploratory study of affective responsiveness as a component of esthetic sensitivity 62 college 2S took the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values and described on an antonym checklist their affective responses to photographs portraying "forces of nature." One-third of the group with extreme high and low AVL Aesthetic value scores were compared on measures of affective responsiveness and on Sensation-Intuition and Perceiving-Judging scales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. As predicted, high esthetic value 2s were more acceptant of stimulus materials (1' =.005), Card 1 of 2 Abstract (contd) Carlson, Rae, & Parker, Janet. Personality and esthetic sensitivity. Princeton, N. J.: ETS Research Bulletin 69-37, May 1969, 13 Pl'. -.;..;..-~~ more often perceptive (1' =.025) and intuitive (1' =.05) types on the METI. Results support a typological conception of esthetic sensitivity, and suggests that direct, "pre-artistic" emotional responsiveness to phenomena expressed in art forms is a component of this personality pattern. Card 2 of 2