Abstract
Three studies investigated the effects of extreme context stimuli and categorizationon hedonic contrast by having subjects judge the attractiveness of faces. Experiment 1 demonstrated hedonic contrast in both directions by using 2 sets of stimuli presented in different orders. Preceding moderately unattractive faces with moderately attractive facesmade the unattractive faces more unattractive. When the order of presentation was reversed, the moderately attractive faces became more attractive. Experiment 2 found that this hedonic contrast was eliminated when the moderately attractive faces were replaced with extremely attractive faces. Experiment 3 showed that even with those 2 sets of extremely different stimuli, hedonic contrast occurred if subjects were instructed to think of both sets of stimuli as belonging to the same category. These findings, using hedonic judgments, parallel Sarris's (1967, 1968) finding with weights that when 2 sets of stimuli are toodifferent in the dimension being judged, no contrast occurs. They also lend support to his explanation for this result. When the 2 sets of stimuli are too different they are not seen as belonging to the same category. They are therefore not compared, and contrast does not occur. The authors propose that these principles might apply to contrast in all settings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 16-22 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 7 Aug 2013 |
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Keywords
- Attractiveness
- Categorization
- Contrast
- Extreme anchors
- Hedonic contrast
Cite this
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Beauty beyond compare : Effects of context extremity and categorization on hedonic contrast. / Cogan, Elizabeth; Parker, Scott; Zellner, Debra A.
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 39, No. 1, 07.08.2013, p. 16-22.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Beauty beyond compare
T2 - Effects of context extremity and categorization on hedonic contrast
AU - Cogan, Elizabeth
AU - Parker, Scott
AU - Zellner, Debra A.
PY - 2013/8/7
Y1 - 2013/8/7
N2 - Three studies investigated the effects of extreme context stimuli and categorizationon hedonic contrast by having subjects judge the attractiveness of faces. Experiment 1 demonstrated hedonic contrast in both directions by using 2 sets of stimuli presented in different orders. Preceding moderately unattractive faces with moderately attractive facesmade the unattractive faces more unattractive. When the order of presentation was reversed, the moderately attractive faces became more attractive. Experiment 2 found that this hedonic contrast was eliminated when the moderately attractive faces were replaced with extremely attractive faces. Experiment 3 showed that even with those 2 sets of extremely different stimuli, hedonic contrast occurred if subjects were instructed to think of both sets of stimuli as belonging to the same category. These findings, using hedonic judgments, parallel Sarris's (1967, 1968) finding with weights that when 2 sets of stimuli are toodifferent in the dimension being judged, no contrast occurs. They also lend support to his explanation for this result. When the 2 sets of stimuli are too different they are not seen as belonging to the same category. They are therefore not compared, and contrast does not occur. The authors propose that these principles might apply to contrast in all settings.
AB - Three studies investigated the effects of extreme context stimuli and categorizationon hedonic contrast by having subjects judge the attractiveness of faces. Experiment 1 demonstrated hedonic contrast in both directions by using 2 sets of stimuli presented in different orders. Preceding moderately unattractive faces with moderately attractive facesmade the unattractive faces more unattractive. When the order of presentation was reversed, the moderately attractive faces became more attractive. Experiment 2 found that this hedonic contrast was eliminated when the moderately attractive faces were replaced with extremely attractive faces. Experiment 3 showed that even with those 2 sets of extremely different stimuli, hedonic contrast occurred if subjects were instructed to think of both sets of stimuli as belonging to the same category. These findings, using hedonic judgments, parallel Sarris's (1967, 1968) finding with weights that when 2 sets of stimuli are toodifferent in the dimension being judged, no contrast occurs. They also lend support to his explanation for this result. When the 2 sets of stimuli are too different they are not seen as belonging to the same category. They are therefore not compared, and contrast does not occur. The authors propose that these principles might apply to contrast in all settings.
KW - Attractiveness
KW - Categorization
KW - Contrast
KW - Extreme anchors
KW - Hedonic contrast
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880468209&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0031020
DO - 10.1037/a0031020
M3 - Article
C2 - 23244047
AN - SCOPUS:84880468209
VL - 39
SP - 16
EP - 22
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
SN - 0096-1523
IS - 1
ER -