Incompleteness, aesthetic sensitivity, and the obsessive-compulsive need for symmetry

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Aesthetics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• The "need for symmetry" is a recognized but poorly understood aspect of obsessive-compulsive (OC) experience.
• Strong associations exist between the OC-related trait of incompleteness, symmetry behaviors/symptoms, and aesthetic judgments of perceptual symmetry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if trait incompleteness is associated with enhanced aesthetic skill or sensitivity, particularly concerning visual symmetry.
• To examine the relationship between trait incompleteness and aesthetic judgments of visual symmetry.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental design compared nonclinical individuals with high versus average trait incompleteness.
• Self-report measures and two performance-based aesthetic judgment tasks were utilized.

Main Results:

• Participants high in incompleteness reported more symmetry-related concerns and behaviors.
• Individuals high in incompleteness demonstrated greater aesthetic sensitivity, showing a heightened preference for symmetry in images.
• No significant differences were found in objective aesthetic value estimation or self-reported aesthetic interests.

Conclusions:

• High trait incompleteness is linked to heightened preferences for visual symmetry, beyond just symptomatic concerns.
• Findings suggest perceptual fluency theory may explain the association between incompleteness, symmetry preferences, and OC symptoms.
• A clinical sample was not included in this study.