Neuroaesthetics is an emerging field with many studies being produced about how perception works in our brain. The field of neuroaesthetics attempts to bridge science and the arts to further understand what makes certain art pieces aesthetically pleasing. This research could potentially provide insight into the way our brains perceive beauty, specifically, and what characterizes something as beautiful. Is beauty completely subjective, something based on our experiences and the culture that we grow up in? Or is it completely objective, something that is based entirely on brain functions and evolutionary premises? Or is it both? These questions are attempting to be answered in this emerging field.
In Dr. Grzywacz' study, he, along with his colleagues, focuses on the perception of beauty and whether or not it is subjective or objective. In earlier times, beauty was seen as being perceived completely objectively from an evolutionary standpoint. This encompasses principles such as proportion, balance, and symmetry. Later on, beauty was perceived as being more subjective, based on the culture one grows up in and the individuality of the person. Dr. Grzywacz discovered that what makes something aesthetically pleasing to the eye, or to the brain rather, is the fluency of the object. This is supported by the processing fluency theory which he discusses at length. The fluency of an object relates to certain principles being present that I mentioned previously. As the research states though, the perception of the fluency of an object can be defined based on one's culture and experiences. This was demonstrated when studying art pieces by various artists. All of the pieces included standard objective principles of fluidity, but all were slightly different in the amount of one principle versus the other. This was due to the artists' differing styles and tastes which is what produces vastly different art pieces that are perceived differently by everyone.
Another study pioneered by Tylka and colleagues wanted to attempt to quantify beauty standards and measure a positive body image in women by constructing a beauty scale. The researchers wanted to conceptualize beauty in women to further understand the deleterious effects and how body image is perceived. An important focus of this study honored different conceptualizations of beauty across non-white cultures. For example, it was found that African American adolescents were more satisfied with their bodies than white adolescents. This was due to them having different perceptions of what "beautiful" is. White girls tended to equate beauty with thinness, being tall, and long hair. African American girls tended to equate beauty with internal characteristics which can be reflected in all body types with their own personal style being emphasized.
Both of these studies focus on the perception of beauty and how there are subjective and objective aspects to perception. These studies coincide nicely with their explanations of subjectivity being born from the culture that one grows up in. There are different beauty standards in place in every country and this is reflected in the different perceptions of beauty that exist. The duality of the second study mentioned is very interesting because they are trying to bridge the subjectiveness, or rather the qualitative, aspects of beauty and quantify them on a scale, which is inherently objective. Both studies connect the subjectiveness and objectiveness of perception and relate them to the human experience, whether that be looking at a piece of artwork or looking at one's own body.
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