The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity
To what extent do aesthetic taste and our interest in the arts constitute who we are? In this paper, we present a series of empirical findings that suggest an Aesthetic Self Effect supporting the claim that our aesthetic engagements are a central component of our identity. Counterfactual changes in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577703/full |
| _version_ | 1818557375108349952 |
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| author | Joerg Fingerhut Javier Gomez-Lavin Javier Gomez-Lavin Claudia Winklmayr Claudia Winklmayr Jesse J. Prinz Jesse J. Prinz |
| author_facet | Joerg Fingerhut Javier Gomez-Lavin Javier Gomez-Lavin Claudia Winklmayr Claudia Winklmayr Jesse J. Prinz Jesse J. Prinz |
| author_sort | Joerg Fingerhut |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To what extent do aesthetic taste and our interest in the arts constitute who we are? In this paper, we present a series of empirical findings that suggest an Aesthetic Self Effect supporting the claim that our aesthetic engagements are a central component of our identity. Counterfactual changes in aesthetic preferences, for example, moving from liking classical music to liking pop, are perceived as altering us as a person. The Aesthetic Self Effect is as strong as the impact of moral changes, such as altering political partisanship or religious orientation, and significantly stronger than for other categories of taste, such as food preferences (Study 1). Using a multidimensional scaling technique to map perceived aesthetic similarities among musical genres, we determined that aesthetic distances between genres correlate highly with the perceived difference in identity (Study 2). Further studies generalize the Aesthetic Self Effect beyond the musical domain: general changes in visual art preferences, for example from more traditional to abstract art, also elicited a strong Self Effect (Study 3). Exploring the breadth of this effect we also found an Anaesthetic Self Effect. That is, hypothetical changes from aesthetic indifference to caring about music, art, or beauty are judged to have a significant impact on identity. This effect on identity is stronger for aesthetic fields compared to leisure activities, such as hiking or playing video games (Study 4). Across our studies, the Anaesthetic Self Effect turns out to be stronger than the Aesthetic Self Effect. Taken together, we found evidence for a link between aesthetics and identity: we are aesthetic selves. When our tastes in music and the arts or our aesthetic interests change we take these to be transformative changes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:58:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99f8082d882544beaa184ef8f4f13710 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:58:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-99f8082d882544beaa184ef8f4f137102022-12-21T23:26:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-03-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.577703577703The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived IdentityJoerg Fingerhut0Javier Gomez-Lavin1Javier Gomez-Lavin2Claudia Winklmayr3Claudia Winklmayr4Jesse J. Prinz5Jesse J. Prinz6Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Philosophy, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United StatesBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyMax-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyThe Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, United StatesTo what extent do aesthetic taste and our interest in the arts constitute who we are? In this paper, we present a series of empirical findings that suggest an Aesthetic Self Effect supporting the claim that our aesthetic engagements are a central component of our identity. Counterfactual changes in aesthetic preferences, for example, moving from liking classical music to liking pop, are perceived as altering us as a person. The Aesthetic Self Effect is as strong as the impact of moral changes, such as altering political partisanship or religious orientation, and significantly stronger than for other categories of taste, such as food preferences (Study 1). Using a multidimensional scaling technique to map perceived aesthetic similarities among musical genres, we determined that aesthetic distances between genres correlate highly with the perceived difference in identity (Study 2). Further studies generalize the Aesthetic Self Effect beyond the musical domain: general changes in visual art preferences, for example from more traditional to abstract art, also elicited a strong Self Effect (Study 3). Exploring the breadth of this effect we also found an Anaesthetic Self Effect. That is, hypothetical changes from aesthetic indifference to caring about music, art, or beauty are judged to have a significant impact on identity. This effect on identity is stronger for aesthetic fields compared to leisure activities, such as hiking or playing video games (Study 4). Across our studies, the Anaesthetic Self Effect turns out to be stronger than the Aesthetic Self Effect. Taken together, we found evidence for a link between aesthetics and identity: we are aesthetic selves. When our tastes in music and the arts or our aesthetic interests change we take these to be transformative changes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577703/fullaesthetic emotionsaesthetic preferencesartbeautymoral valuesmusic |
| spellingShingle | Joerg Fingerhut Javier Gomez-Lavin Javier Gomez-Lavin Claudia Winklmayr Claudia Winklmayr Jesse J. Prinz Jesse J. Prinz The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity Frontiers in Psychology aesthetic emotions aesthetic preferences art beauty moral values music |
| title | The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity |
| title_full | The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity |
| title_fullStr | The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity |
| title_short | The Aesthetic Self. The Importance of Aesthetic Taste in Music and Art for Our Perceived Identity |
| title_sort | aesthetic self the importance of aesthetic taste in music and art for our perceived identity |
| topic | aesthetic emotions aesthetic preferences art beauty moral values music |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577703/full |
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