1
|
Bignardi G, Smit DJA, Vessel EA, Trupp MD, Ticini LF, Fisher SE, Polderman TJC. Genetic effects on variability in visual aesthetic evaluations are partially shared across visual domains. Commun Biol 2024; 7:55. [PMID: 38184755 PMCID: PMC10771521 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05710-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The aesthetic values that individuals place on visual images are formed and shaped over a lifetime. However, whether the formation of visual aesthetic value is solely influenced by environmental exposure is still a matter of debate. Here, we considered differences in aesthetic value emerging across three visual domains: abstract images, scenes, and faces. We examined variability in two major dimensions of ordinary aesthetic experiences: taste-typicality and evaluation-bias. We build on two samples from the Australian Twin Registry where 1547 and 1231 monozygotic and dizygotic twins originally rated visual images belonging to the three domains. Genetic influences explained 26% to 41% of the variance in taste-typicality and evaluation-bias. Multivariate analyses showed that genetic effects were partially shared across visual domains. Results indicate that the heritability of major dimensions of aesthetic evaluations is comparable to that of other complex social traits, albeit lower than for other complex cognitive traits. The exception was taste-typicality for abstract images, for which we found only shared and unique environmental influences. Our study reveals that diverse sources of genetic and environmental variation influence the formation of aesthetic value across distinct visual domains and provides improved metrics to assess inter-individual differences in aesthetic value.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Bignardi
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Stephanstrasse 1a, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Dirk J A Smit
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Edward A Vessel
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Psychology, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - MacKenzie D Trupp
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Luca F Ticini
- Department of Psychology, Webster Vienna Private University, Vienna, Austria
| | - Simon E Fisher
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Tinca J C Polderman
- Clinical Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- VKC Psyche, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychosocial Care, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|