Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that art can produce some variation in self-reported personality traits. The present experiment addressed two questions. First, does visual art cause greater fluctuations in personality for unsettled or serene individuals, and second, do unsettled individuals respond more to art as a function of its narrative structure? Participants (N = 61) completed a set of questionnaires, then viewed a series of paintings, Giotto's Seven Vices, either unmodified to exhibit high narrative structure, or modified to exhibit low narrative structure, and then filled another set of questionnaires. The results show that unsettled individuals experienced significantly less fluctuation of personality across conditions, and that in the condition of low narrative coherence, serene individuals experienced significantly more personality fluctuations than unsettled individuals. The results suggest that unsettled persons may need more narrative coherence in the art they engage with, while serene individuals may remain open to less-structured and more ambiguous art.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Altemeyer

(1994). Reducing prejudice in right-wing authoritarians. In Zanna

M. P.

& Olson

J. M.

(Eds.), The psychology of prejudice: The Ontario Symposium (pp. 77–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bak

, & Chen

(1991). Self-organized criticality. Scientific American, 264, 36–33.

Bartlett

F. C.

(1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Baumeister

R. F.

(1994). The crystallization of discontent in the process of major life change. In Heatherton

T. F.

& Weinberger

J. L.

(Eds.), Can personality change? Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Bonanno

G. A.

(2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59, 20–28.

Djikic

Oatley

Zoeterman

, & Peterson

J. B.

(2009a). On“Being Moved” by Art: How reading fiction transforms the self. Creativity Research Journal, 21(1), 24–29.

Djikic

Oatley

Zoeterman

, & Peterson

J. B.

(2009b). Defenseless against art: Impact of reading fiction on emotion change in avoidantly attached individuals. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 14–17.

Djikic

(2011). The effect of music and lyrics on personality. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5(3), 237–240.

Hayes

A. M.

Laurenceau

Feldman

Strauss

J. L.

, & Cardaciotto

(2007). Change is not always linear: The study of nonlinear and discontinuous patterns of change in psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 715–723.

10.

John

O. P.

Donahue

E. M.

, & Kentle

(1991). The Big Five Inventory. Technical Report, University of California, Berkley.

11.

John

O. P.

, & Srivastava

(1999). Big Five Trait taxonomy: History, measurement and theoretical perspectives. In Pervin

L. A.

& John

O. P.

(Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (2nd ed., pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.

12.

Kelly

G. A.

(1955). The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.

13.

Linley

P. A.

, & Joseph

(2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11–21.

14.

McGregor

Zanna

M. P.

Holmes

J. G.

, & Spencer

S. J.

(2001). Compensatory conviction in the face of personal uncertainty: Going to extremes of being oneself. Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 80(3), 472–488.

15.

National Endowment for the Arts. (2009). Reading on the rise: A new chapter in American literacy (No. 46). Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved from http://www.arts.gov/pub/pubLit.php

16.

Oatley

, & Djikic

(2002). Emotions and transformation: Varieties of experience of identity. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 9-10, 97–116.

17.

Peterson

J. B.

(1999). Maps of meaning: The architecture of belief. New York: Routledge.

18.

Ross

C. S.

(1999). Finding without seeking: The information encounter in the context of reading for pleasure. Information Processing and Management, 35, 783–799.

19.

Sabine

, & Sabine

(1983). Books that made the difference. Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications.

20.

Schiepek

Eckert

, & Weihrauch

(2003). Critical fluctuations and clinical change: Data-based assessments in dynamic systems. Constructivism in the Human Sciences, 8, 57–84.

21.

Schiepek

Fricke

, & Kaimer

(1992). Synergetics of psychotherapy. In Tschacher

Schiepek

, & Brunner

E. J.

(Eds.), Self-organization and clinical psychology (pp. 239–267). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.

22.

Tedeschi

R. G.

, & Calhoun

L. G.

(2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 1–18.

23.

Vallacher

R. R.

Read

S. J.

, & Nowak

(2002). The dynamical perspective in personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 264–273.

24.

van der Maa

, & Molenaar

(1992). A catastrophe-theoretical approach to cognitive development. Psychological Review, 99, 395–417.

Serene Arts: The Effect of Personal Unsettledness and of Paintings' Narrative Structure on Personality

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References