How are real artworks and reproductions judged? The role of anchoring in empirical investigations of the genuineness effect

Eva Specker; József Arató; Helmut Leder

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104494

Titel

How are real artworks and reproductions judged? The role of anchoring in empirical investigations of the genuineness effect

Autor*in

Eva Specker

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Fakultät für Psychologie, Universität Wien

József Arató

Forschungsverbund Kognitionswissenschaft, Forschungsplattformen, Universität Wien

Helmut Leder

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Fakultät für Psychologie, Universität Wien

Abstract

The anchoring effect is one of the most robust findings in psychology. In its most general form, the anchoring effect entails that people make relative judgements and decisions compared to some reference point or “anchor”. In the current study, we investigate if the anchoring effect could explain why a genuineness effect—a difference in aesthetic experience between a physical work of art and its (digital) reproduction—has so far not been found in empirical work. As our world becomes more digital, our interactions with art increasingly occur online through reproductions. Therefore, a better understanding of the genuineness effect—or lack thereof—could have a far-reaching impact in how we engage with art in a digital world. Our results indicate that an anchoring effect cannot explain a lack of empirical evidence for the genuineness effect. We discuss how our results can push both the specific research on genuineness and the related discussions of digitalization and the arts, but also psychological research into art experience, further.

Stichwort

Genuineness effectAnchoring effectRelative judgementArt evaluationEmpirical aesthetics

Objekt-Typ

journal article

Sprache

Englisch [eng]

Persistent identifier

phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2036054

DOI

10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104494

Erschienen in

Titel