Samuel, F. & Kerzel, D.
FPSE. Université de Genève. Geneva, Switzerland
In a three-part experiment we presented compositions with two black rectangles on a white surface in order to investigate which stimulus variables influence esthetics ratings, balance ratings, and physical equilibrium ratings. The three questions for the ratings where: Is the composition nice? Are the black rectangles distributed in a balanced way in the white surface? On which side and to what extent is there more “weight” on one side of the composition? The systematic variation of the stimuli allowed us to see clear differences between the three ratings: We found that a large difference between the sizes of the two rectangles influenced the perceived esthetic value positively, while it influenced the perceived balance value negatively. We also observed that the balance ratings correlated only for a few participants with the positions of the center of mass of the two black surfaces, but for all participants the physical equilibrium ratings correlated very much with the positions of the center of mass. Our findings highlight that esthetic judgments should not be considered equivalent to balance judgments and only for a few people does balance correspond to physical equilibrium.