Beauty demands longer looks! An adaptive aesthetic sense

Beauty has profound influences on our lives. Whether judging the beauty of a person, finding a partner or choosing which products to purchase, beauty plays a significant role in many decisions we make. Most theories of aesthetics argue that aesthetics has a hedonic function: Looking at beautiful things is in itself pleasing and rewarding, but beauty also affects our behavior, in direct ways, by reinforcing behavior (Hayden, Parikh, Deaner, & Platt, 2007), affecting perception (Guo, Liu, & Roebuck, 2011), binding attention, and also, by demanding longer looks (Shimojo, Simion, Shimoyo, & Scheier, 2003; Leder, Tinio, Fuchs, & Bohrn, 2010). In the latter sense, beauty determines what information people gather through visual exploration, and therefore, how they perceive the world: In our project we study the biological and social determinants of these effects of beauty. Leder et al. (2010) showed that when two simultaneously presented faces embedded in real scenes differ in their levels of beauty, then the more beautiful face receives longer looks when beauty has to be judged (also see Shimojo et al., 2003). However, if the aesthetic sense evolved as a tool to support efficient and appropriate decisions (Dissanayake, 2007), then its behavioral consequences should be closely associated with specific goals. It is still not clear whether the aesthetic sense rides solely on biological drives for reproduction, or whether it is flexible regarding individual goals, as Leder et al.s (2010) results also suggest, when they varied situational demands. To understand the role of beauty on our behavior, in this project we propose a set of studies that systematically test the following hypotheses: (1) if people are driven their social desires of partnership then response to beauty is adaptive in the sense that it is specific to a persons sexual orientation; alternatively, if driven by the need for reproduction then opposite gender dominates (2) Beauty has a greater influence on the exploratory behavior of people who are searching for relationships than on those who are not, because such behavior facilitates successful mating; furthermore, effects of beauty on exploratory behavior varies with state of fertility (as with certain age); and (3) the response to beauty differs in dependence on the contexts, in terms of the presence of others. We will analyze the durations of gazes on (beautiful) faces in free viewing tasks via eye tracking, and consider dynamic changes over time (as suggested by Shimojo et al., 2003), and employ attractiveness ratings. Together, these studies will examine the sense of beauty as a highly specialized, sensitive, and adaptive human response within complex environments. Moreover, the specific studies will show that beauty, though pervasive, is not always attractive to everyone.

Beauty influences our life and behavior: When choosing a partner, when making a purchase or visiting a museum, beauty is involved in many decisions. Looking at beautiful things triggers positive emotions and has a rewarding effect, thus feels positive. But beauty also has a direct influence on our behavior: Most important for our project beautiful things bind our looks, they are viewed for a particularly long time. Beauty thus determines what information we acquire through visual exploration and consequently - and much more far reaching - how we perceive and experience the world. In the present project, we therefore wanted to better understand - and empirically demonstrate - how the behavior-determining aspect of the sense of beauty is influenced by individual goals and situational characteristics. We showed, that the response to beauty is adaptive in that - with regard to facial beauty - it shows gender-specific characteristics with different sexual orientations; Moreover, that effects of beauty are more pronounced in people looking for a partner, also gender-specific, as this is associated with mating and reproduction; The project examined and demonstrated the human sense of beauty as a highly specialized, sensitive, and at the same time adaptive human response within complex environments. Beauty is so important, because it directs our attention to objects in our environment, that are particularly important and relevant for us. This probably evolved to enable good mating decisions, but also generalizes to other objects of beauty - such as artworks!