Environmental influence due to idiosyncratic experiences is dominant in the variation of intensity of aesthetic appraisal; genetic factors played a moderate role (heritability 26-41%)

Bignardi, Giacomo, Luca F. Ticini, Dirk Smit, and Tinca J. Polderman. 2020. “Domain-specific and Domain-general Genetic and Environmental Effects on the Intensity of Visual Aesthetic Appraisal.” PsyArXiv. February 7. doi:10.31234/osf.io/79nbq

Abstract: Visual aesthetic experiences are universally shared and uniquely diversified components of every human culture. The contribution of genetic and environmental factors to variation in aesthetic appraisal has rarely been examined. Here, we analysed variation in the intensity of aesthetic appraisal in 558 monozygotic and 216 dizygotic same sex adult twin pairs when they were presented with three kinds of visual stimuli: abstract objects, sceneries, and faces. We estimated twin resemblance and heritability for the three stimuli types, as well as a shared genetic factor between the three stimuli types. Genetic factors played a moderate role in the variation of intensity of aesthetic appraisal (heritability 26 to 41%). Both shared and unique underlying genetic factors significantly accounted for domain-general and domain-specific differences. Our findings are the first to show the extent to which variation in the intensity of aesthetic experiences result from the contribution of genetic and environmental factors.