Aesthetic preference for spatial composition in multiobject pictures

Five experiments examined preferences for horizontal positions in multiobject pictures. In Experiment 1, each picture contained a fixed object and an object whose position could be adjusted to create the most (or least) aesthetically pleasing image. Observers placed the movable object closer to the fixed object when the objects were related than when they were unrelated (a relatedness bias) but almost never overlapped them (a separation bias). Experiment 2 showed that these results were not due to demand characteristics by replicating them almost exactly in a between-participants design. In Experiment 3, preference rankings revealed a strong relatedness bias together with an inward bias toward the spatial envelope of objects to point into the frame. A weak balance effect was evident in a multiple regression analysis. Experiment 4 replicated the inward bias for the spatial envelope using multiobject groups. Experiment 5 generalized the above findings for different objects when observers had to choose between image pairs that differed only in interobject distance or degree of balance. Strong relatedness effects were again present, but there was no evidence of any preference for balance.