Aesthetic Liking Is Not Only Driven by Object Properties, but Also by Your Expectations

Aesthetic liking has traditionally been thought to be caused by specific object properties: symmetry, curvature, etc. One of the great insights of neuroaesthetics is the realization that expectations play almost as great a role in shaping liking responses. For example, by prefacing exposure to an artwork with information about its provenance it is possible to enhance or decrease liking. The article under discussion summarizes the results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study where people were scanned as they rated abstract art they either believed belonged to a prestigious art gallery or to have been created by the experimenters.