Aesthetic judgment of shapes: eye color, complexity, and first- and second-order symmetry as predictors.

228 subjects, approximately equally divided according to sex and eye color (brown, blue), rated the pleasantness of 20 visual shapes in either of two sets. Factor analyses of pleasingness ratings yielded five stable factors explaining at least 75% of the variance in all cases. Shapes grouped according to factor and subjected to analyses of variance yeilded sex differences for one set (A) and eye color differences for the other (B). Sets A and B were shown to be incomparible and differences in responding between sets were significantly associated with eye color. For individual shapes in Set B, differences in responding associated with eye color were best predicted by rated complexity and the number of angles per figure and brown-eyed subjects were significantly more responsive to complexity than blue-eyed subjects.