Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts

Can art promote understanding? A review of the psychology and neuroscience of aesthetic cognitivism.
Aesthetic cognitivism refers to the proposition that art promotes knowledge and understanding. Despite its intuitive appeal, few empirical investigations have tested the validity of this philosophical claim. In our review, we outline prior arguments for and against aesthetic cognitivism. Then, with a focus on visual art, we discuss how empirical aesthetics and neuroscience can contribute to conversations about aesthetic cognitivism. We propose that engagement, broadly defined as the ongoing thoughts, feelings, and actions of a person in response to viewing an artwork, is necessary to acquire new knowledge and understanding, describe motivational states associated with learning, and posit who is most likely to experience these states to gain knowledge and understanding from art. Throughout the article, we discuss how, when, and what knowledge derived from engagement might be measured and modeled. By grounding aesthetic cognitivism in empirical aesthetics, researchers can generate and test hypotheses about art’s role in promoting knowledge and understanding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Thinking outside the box: The influence of product metaphors on aesthetic judgements in design innovations.
Recently, design innovation has become a promising competitive advantage for companies. Implementing metaphors in a product’s visual appearance make a novel design easier to process while still being different in its appearance and maintaining visual novelty. However, insufficient studies have been conducted to understand how consumers’ process product metaphors and how the integration of metaphors facilitates comprehension, thus leading to aesthetic liking. Additionally, the role of processing fluency has not been sufficiently considered. We analyze the effects of product metaphors using four studies. These studies explore whether differences between pleasure-based and interest-based aesthetic liking can be identified and whether individual levels of need for cognition influence the effects of product metaphors. The studies examine the role of processing fluency to investigate whether initial disfluency can be reduced by experiencing an aha moment. The results reveal that metaphorical design can serve as a design innovation and help to reduce initial disfluency, which finally leads to more positive aesthetic judgements compared with designs without a metaphor in their visual appearance. As the need for cognition (NFC) and the experience of an “aha moment” in particular reinforce these positive judgements, marketers should consider this when implementing product metaphors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
The role of transparency in color preferences: Sweetness expectation and preference for translucency.
According to the ecological valence theory (Palmer & Schloss, 2010), color preferences derive from the emotional valences of color-related objects. Color, translucency, and sweetness are regarded as sensory cues that aid in the identification of ripe fruit. After conducting a literature review that demonstrated humans’ innate preference for sweetness and sugar, we posited that the preference for transparent and translucent colors might be associated with the identification of ripe fruits as sources of sugar. A total of 200 respondents provided preference and appetite ratings for 18 stimuli comprising six colors with three different levels of transparency. The respondents identified the tastes they expected the stimuli to have. The results were recorded for both men (29.5%) and women (70.5%). Overall, we found that the transparent and translucent color stimuli received higher average preference and appetite ratings than the opaque stimuli. Notably, our analysis showed correlations between respondents’ preferences and their appetite ratings for translucent red, yellow-green, and purple, the colors the respondents associated sweetness with. This study highlights the potential association between preferences for translucent colors and identification of sweet-tasting foods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Viewing images of jagged texture in digital artwork affects body sensations: A virtual reality study.
One of the topics recurring in contemporary aesthetics is haptic visuality—a sense of physical touching, or being touched, induced by exposure to a purely visual stimulus. In this study we attempt at an empirical evaluation of this elusive concept, and specifically address the role of visual texture in inducing bodily sensations. We carried out a virtual reality experiment in which 144 participants could see their virtual hands and use them for interaction. Inside the virtual reality experience, the participants viewed four contemporary art images that were preselected as fostering haptic visuality. After viewing each image, the participants immediately performed a simple motor task and answered a few questions. The motor task comprised picking a virtual ball and placing it in a designated place, and in half of the cases their virtual arm was threatened by a virtual chainsaw. Our main hypothesis was supported—art stimuli depicting a jagged object reduced the perceived threat to the virtual arm, indicating a decrease in ownership of the virtual body. Interactions with body awareness as trait were also revealed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Impact of Veteran Journeys opera on audience member attitudes related to veterans with posttraumatic stress or unstable housing.
Few studies have assessed the impact of operas on audience engagement in social issues and psychological well-being. This study evaluated a streaming opera’s effects on measures of audience engagement important to Veterans’ recovery from posttraumatic stress and unstable housing. Among 185 attendees, 137 completed at least part of the pre- or postopera surveys, and 45 completed both pre- and postopera surveys. Participants also shared 31 comments and 34 Zoom chat submissions. The primary outcome was change in willingness to engage in social activities, work, and family relationships with Veterans with posttraumatic stress or unstable housing. Secondary outcomes included measures of movement toward greater engagement, hope for Veterans Affairs (VA) response, positive and negative affect, arousal, and social connectedness. There was a large increase in overall willingness to engage with Veterans who have posttraumatic stress or unstable housing (Cohen’s d = .74). Similar increases were observed among those reporting personal experience with trauma or unstable housing, despite high baseline willingness to engage. Postopera movement toward engagement correlated with postopera ratings of positive affect, social connectedness, and arousal. Qualitative comments highlighted the inspirational and emotionally connected structural features of the work along with concerns about witnessing trauma and abuse. These findings suggest that opera may be an effective vehicle to promote engagement with clinical and social concerns. The results further show that increased willingness to engage is associated with psychological well-being. The qualitative results may inform creation of future presentations in both content and style to maximize beneficial impacts and community uptake. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Fifty years later and still working: Rediscovering Paulus et al’s (1970) automated scoring of divergent thinking tests.
Automated scoring of divergent thinking tasks is a current hot topic in creativity research. Most of the debated approaches are unsupervised machine learning approaches and researchers seemingly just started to evaluate supervised approaches. Hence, rediscovering the seminal work of Paulus et al. (1970) came as a big surprise to us. More than 50 years ago, they derived prediction formulas for an automated scoring of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1966) that was based on a set of text mining variables (e.g., average word length, word counts, and so forth). They found quite impressive cross-validation results. This work reintroduces Paulus et al.’s (1970) approach and investigates how it performs compared with semantic distance scoring. The main contribution of Paulus et al.’s (1970) neglected masterpiece on divergent thinking assessment is echoed by the findings of this work: Creative quality of responses can be well predicted by means of simple text mining statistics. The validity was also stronger as compared with semantic distance. Importantly, using the Paulus et al. (1970) features in a state-of-the-art supervised machine learning approach does not outperform the simple stepwise regression used by Paulus et al. (1970). Yet, we found that supervised machine learning can outperform the Paulus et al. (1970) approach, when semantic distance is added to the set of prediction variables. We discuss challenges that are expected for future research that aim at combining unsupervised approaches based on word embeddings and supervised learning relying on text-mining features. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Automated scoring of figural creativity using a convolutional neural network.
One of the abiding challenges in creativity research is assessment. Objectively scored tests of creativity such as the Torrance Tests of Creativity and the test of Creative Thinking–Drawing Production (TCT-DP; Urban & Jellen, 1996) offer high levels of reliability and validity but are slow and expensive to administer and score. As a result, many creativity researchers default to simpler and faster self-report measures of creativity and related constructs (e.g., creative self-efficacy, openness). Recent research, however, has begun to explore the use of computational approaches to address these limitations. Examples include the Divergent Association Task (Olson et al., 2021) that uses computational methods to rapidly assess the semantic distance of words, as a proxy for divergent thinking. To date, however, no research appears to have emerged that uses methods drawn from the field of artificial intelligence to assess existing objective, figural (i.e., drawing) tests of creativity. This article describes the application of machine learning, in the form of a convolutional neural network, to the assessment of a figural creativity test—the TCT-DP. The approach shows excellent accuracy and speed, eliminating traditional barriers to the use of these objective, figural creativity tests and opening new avenues for automated creativity assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Gender differences in creative potential: A meta-analysis of mean differences and variability.
The current study examined gender differences in divergent thinking (DT) using meta-analyses of mean difference and variation. The main objective of the meta-analysis of mean difference was to resolve contradictory findings in the creativity literature regarding the prevalence of creativity among males or females in creative potential. The meta-analysis of variation aimed to test the greater male variability hypothesis (GMVH) in DT. To test gender differences in means (i.e., Hedges’ g), results from 213 studies (k = 1,251; N = 115,289) were analyzed using a three-level approach. Females slightly outperformed males in DT, g = −.065, 95% CI [−.095, −.034], p = ≤ .001. Three-level multiple regression analyses showed that the mean effect size significantly varied by (a) country, (b) DT subscale, (c) type of task, and (d) ability (gifted vs. nongifted). In the second meta-analysis, the GMVH in creative potential was tested by synthesizing the results of 1,152 effect sizes from 187 studies (k = 1,152; N = 101,328). The results confirmed the existence of greater male variability (GMV) in DT, (InVR) = 1.216, 95% CI [1.14, 1.29], p ≤ .001, indicating 21.6% GMV in DT. Multiple regression analyses explained 29.82% of variability in the mean effect (InVR) at Level-2 (within-studies variance), and 5% of the variability in the mean effect at Level-3 (between-studies variance). The mean difference findings support the gender similarity hypothesis, while variation results tend to support the gender differences hypothesis. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
How stable is the creative self-concept? A latent state-trait analysis.
This study explores long-term stability of creative self-concept variables, which have gained attention in the past decade, but lacked specific longitudinal investigation and strong analytical decisions. We conducted two higher-order confirmatory factor analyses based on latent state-trait theory to investigate the underlying latent structure of two constructs—creative personal identity and creative self-efficacy—across 7 years. Our results demonstrated a satisfying model fit with high standardized latent state and trait loadings. Both constructs showed greater trait than state influences, and more than half of the state variance at each time point was explained by interindividual trait differences, leading to the conclusion that creative self-concept variables are relatively stable yet malleable trait-like constructs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
The spectrum of distributed creativity: Tango dancing and its generative modalities.
As scholars have recently emphasized, creativity is not restricted to the individual mind; it can happen in and through interaction. To evaluate the legitimacy of claims about “distributed creativity,” we propose a compare-and-contrast approach to Argentine tango. Tango is an improvisational leader–follower dance of a formally constrained kind, yet one that also allows for a range of modes of being creative together in real-time interaction. Six dance couples were filmed while improvising and subsequently interviewed. Based on video vignettes of a few seconds duration, we microgenetically reconstructed the embodied “give-and-take” between partners, from which creative trajectories emerge. The spectrum of cocreative modalities ranges from creativity realized in interaction, but bearing some mark of the individual, to creativity, in which the interaction itself becomes an operative mechanism. Cocreation can happen in forms guided by a single person, yet jointly executed (“leader creativity”), in subordinate spaces that provide for some individual creative autonomy within a collective dynamic, in parallel or additive creative interaction forms, but also in genuinely multiplicative forms in which self-organizing interaction dynamics become a powerful causal factor that leverages creativity. To accommodate these various modalities, we argue for a dynamic-systemic account, which looks at interdependencies between micro- and macrolevels. Our framework recognizes different degrees of creative autonomy within interaction; it hereby avoids a dichotomy between individualistic accounts and interactionism with a purely collective-level focus. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Reciprocal relations between autonomous motivation and creativity: A longitudinal investigation of Chinese children and adolescents.
Research has identified the positive role of autonomous motivation in creativity. However, very few studies have sought to examine the effect of creativity on autonomous motivation or reciprocal relationships. This study attempted to explore the reciprocal associations between autonomous motivation and creativity assessed in terms of ideational fluency, flexibility, and originality. In total, 1,186 students in grades 4, 7, and 10 from three elementary schools, two junior high schools, and two senior high schools participated at two time points one year apart. The results supported a developmental perspective. Specifically, for students in Grade 4, only autonomous motivation predicted flexibility and showed a unidirectional effect. For students in grades 7 and 10, autonomous motivation and creativity were reciprocally related and showed a reciprocal effect; however, the reciprocal model occurred only in originality. These findings suggest that autonomous motivation and creativity mutually reinforce one another and this relationship differs across age groups and facets of creativity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Planning new ideas: Does time management tendency benefit daily creativity?
We studied the relation between time management tendency and daily creativity in a diary study among 68 R&D engineers reporting on 412 workdays. The direct effect of time management tendency on daily creativity was positive, and the effect on its dispersion was negative. Theorizing that time management frees up cognitive and affective resources, we tested the mediating effect of concentration and positive affect in the relation between time management tendency and daily creativity at work. Multilevel analyses showed some support for an indirect effect of concentration, but not for an indirect effect of positive affect. In our analyses, we controlled for innovative cognitive style. Overall, we conclude that time management tendency provides benefits for daily creativity at work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
The creative mind in daily life: How cognitive and affective experiences relate to creative thinking and behavior.
Creativity has long been conceptually linked to experiences of emotion and mind wandering, yet these empirical relationships remain unclear, and few studies have explored the thoughts and emotions of creative people in daily life. To investigate how creativity relates to everyday cognitive and affective experiences, the present study (N = 159) used experience sampling to examine how creative cognition (divergent thinking ability) and creative behavior (self-reported creative activity and achievement) measured in the lab may predict thought content, affective state, and the frequency of mind wandering (i.e., task-unrelated thought) in daily life. Additionally, we assessed in-the-moment thoughts and emotions predictive of thinking about a creative project in everyday life (i.e., “creative project thought”). We found that each form of creativity was generally associated with positively-valenced experiences, such as having pleasant thoughts, enjoying one’s everyday activities, and feeling motivated and inspired. We also found that positive, activating emotions (happy and energetic) were positively associated with divergent thinking ability and in-the-moment creative project thought. Furthermore, positive, deactivating emotions (relaxed and connected) negatively predicted momentary creative project thought—indicating that positive affect can be tied to less creative thinking, depending on the activation level of emotions. No relationship was found between daily-life mind wandering frequency and divergent thinking ability or creative behavior/achievement, suggesting that the overall amount of task-unrelated thought in everyday life is not related to individual creativity. Taken together, the present findings provide novel evidence on the everyday experiential correlates of creative thinking and behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Does reading a single short story of literary fiction improve social-cognitive skills? Testing the priming hypothesis.
Reading stories is a popular leisure activity in Western societies. Several current theories agree that reading might improve social cognition. Priming, in terms of an activation of content stored in long-term memory and facilitation of subsequent cognitive processing, has been proposed as a mechanism that leads to a temporary increase in social–cognitive task performance when reading a single story. In addition, this effect might be more pronounced given a rich prior reading experience. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two experiments in which participants either read a filler text and then a nonfiction text (nonfiction control condition), a narrative text and then a filler text (nonpriming control condition), or a filler text and then a narrative text (priming condition). The participants completed a questionnaire on demographics and an author-recognition test. As dependent variables, two social–cognitive tasks on empathy and theory of mind were administered before and after reading the text stimuli (Experiment 1) or only after reading the text stimuli (Experiment 2). We found no significant differences between conditions on self-reported empathy or theory-of-mind performance in both experiments. Moreover, equivalence testing largely confirmed that the outcomes for the experimental and control conditions were statistically equivalent. Rich prior reading experience did not increase effects of narrative exposure. Accordingly, the results challenge the assumption that a brief exposure to narratives improves social–cognitive skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts - Vol 19, Iss 1