Abstract
Background. We investigated how aesthetic judgements and sensory sensitivity influence people’s gaze and attention to visual art. Previous research has
shown that people tend to look longer at art works they find aesthetically pleasing, but for a large part, these findings have been obtained in controlled laboratory environments. Moreover, little is known about how individual differences in sensory sensitivity may moderate this relationship. Method. 61 participants, equipped with a wearable eye-tracker, looked at visual art works in an art gallery. After their visit, participants evaluated each art work on aesthetic dimensions (e.g., beauty, liking, emotional impact, complexity), and filled in the
Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (GSQ) to provide a measure of self-reported sensory sensitivity. Research question. Do people’s aesthetic judgements predict visual attention to art works, and is visual attention moderated by sensory
sensitivity? We hypothesized that 1) higher aesthetic judgements will correlate
with longer total and average fixation durations, and 2) more sensory sensitive
visitor’s will show increased total and average fixation durations when looking
at art. First results. We found a significant positive correlation between subjective beauty/liking judgements and total fixation duration (ρ = .12, p = .024),
but no significant correlation was found between subjective beauty/liking and
average fixation duration. Sensory sensitivity positively correlated with total
fixation duration (ρ = .18, p = .001), and subjective beauty/liking correlated
with sensory sensitivity (ρ = .12, p = .024). Discussion. Initial results show
that subjective judgements of beauty/liking and sensory sensitivity predict
visual attention to art works in a gallery environment. We are currently working on additional analyses on how other aesthetic judgements (e.g., emotional
impact, interest, complexity) influence measures of visual attention, and how
sensory sensitivity affect these relationships.
shown that people tend to look longer at art works they find aesthetically pleasing, but for a large part, these findings have been obtained in controlled laboratory environments. Moreover, little is known about how individual differences in sensory sensitivity may moderate this relationship. Method. 61 participants, equipped with a wearable eye-tracker, looked at visual art works in an art gallery. After their visit, participants evaluated each art work on aesthetic dimensions (e.g., beauty, liking, emotional impact, complexity), and filled in the
Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (GSQ) to provide a measure of self-reported sensory sensitivity. Research question. Do people’s aesthetic judgements predict visual attention to art works, and is visual attention moderated by sensory
sensitivity? We hypothesized that 1) higher aesthetic judgements will correlate
with longer total and average fixation durations, and 2) more sensory sensitive
visitor’s will show increased total and average fixation durations when looking
at art. First results. We found a significant positive correlation between subjective beauty/liking judgements and total fixation duration (ρ = .12, p = .024),
but no significant correlation was found between subjective beauty/liking and
average fixation duration. Sensory sensitivity positively correlated with total
fixation duration (ρ = .18, p = .001), and subjective beauty/liking correlated
with sensory sensitivity (ρ = .12, p = .024). Discussion. Initial results show
that subjective judgements of beauty/liking and sensory sensitivity predict
visual attention to art works in a gallery environment. We are currently working on additional analyses on how other aesthetic judgements (e.g., emotional
impact, interest, complexity) influence measures of visual attention, and how
sensory sensitivity affect these relationships.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 347-348 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Nov 2025 |
| Event | Vision Science of Art Conference (VSAC) - Wiesbaden, Germany Duration: 21 Aug 2025 → 23 Aug 2025 Conference number: 11 https://2025.vsac.eu/ |
Conference
| Conference | Vision Science of Art Conference (VSAC) |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Germany |
| City | Wiesbaden |
| Period | 21/08/25 → 23/08/25 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- empirical aesthetics
- eye tracking