Preferences in Quadrangles Reconsidered

Through about 130 years of the history of experimental aesthetics, preferences of figures have been summarized in representative values such as the golden ratio. Researches especially in the golden-section hypothesis overshadowed the basic and profound problem of how people's individual preference would be decided. In the present study I returned to simple quadrangles, and investigated each person's subjective preferences by a production method, recording eye movements, and having qualitative interviews. Two basic scanning patterns on quadrangles emerged through the analysis of eye movements, and more complicated patterns were made by various combinations of these two. The distribution of subjects' preferred proportions showed that squares and square-like quadrangles were chosen most frequently, although the average of height/width ratios came close to the golden ratio in most quadrangle types. The results of interviews revealed various characteristics of decision processes of preferred shapes in the subjects. A discussion is provided on dealing with the golden ratio, and the importance of studying subjects' processes of preferences is proposed for the future of empirical aesthetics.