Christensen Julia F, Schmidt Eva-Madeleine, Frieler Klaus, Smith-Chase Rebecca A, Sancho-Escanero Luisa, Michalareas Georgios, Ullén Fredrik, Cross Emily S
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany.
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany; Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany.
Cognition. 2025 Oct;263:106152. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106152. Epub 2025 May 23.
Across two pre-registered experiments, one live and one online, we investigated how audiences' aesthetic experience during a contemporary dance performance was shaped by audience members' individual traits, as well as by the characteristics of the performance. In an ecologically valid live performance setting, we replicated results from previous laboratory-based research concerning stimulus characteristics and aesthetic enjoyment. Specifically, using the motion capture system XSENS®, we found that 1) objectively measured movement kinematics (acceleration and velocity) differed significantly between expressive and non-expressive dance pieces; and 2) observers preferred expressive dance pieces over non-expressive pieces. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate the extent to which location (home, theatre), liveness (recorded, live), type of dancer (avatar, human) and intended expressivity (expressive, non-expressive) influenced audience responses to a contemporary dance performance. Liveness and type of dancer, along with the interindividual differences age, education, sex and personality, were found to reliably modulate audience members' responses. Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling showed that among different aesthetic enjoyment variables including liking, beauty, wanting and boredom, 'interest' was the strongest predictor of individual audience members' wish to see a dance performance again. Evidence obtained with a single dance performance can clearly not be generalized to all dance performances, but these results highlight, at the very least, the importance of assessing interindividual differences when researching aesthetic preferences for contemporary dance.
在两项预先注册的实验中，一项是现场实验，一项是在线实验，我们研究了观众在当代舞蹈表演中的审美体验是如何受到观众个体特征以及表演特点影响的。在一个生态效度较高的现场表演环境中，我们复制了先前基于实验室研究得出的有关刺激特征和审美享受的结果。具体而言，使用Xsens®动作捕捉系统，我们发现：1）客观测量的运动运动学指标（加速度和速度）在表现性和非表现性舞蹈作品之间存在显著差异；2）观察者更喜欢表现性舞蹈作品而非非表现性作品。我们使用多变量方差分析来评估地点（家中、剧院）、现场性（录制、现场）、舞者类型（虚拟形象、真人）和预期表现力（表现性、非表现性）对观众对当代舞蹈表演反应的影响程度。结果发现，现场性和舞者类型，以及个体差异中的年龄、教育程度、性别和个性，都能可靠地调节观众的反应。探索性结构方程模型表明，在包括喜欢、美感、想看和厌烦等不同的审美享受变量中，“兴趣”是个体观众希望再次观看舞蹈表演的最强预测因素。当然，仅通过一场舞蹈表演获得的证据显然不能推广到所有舞蹈表演，但这些结果至少凸显了在研究当代舞蹈审美偏好时评估个体差异的重要性。
