Aesthetic Preferences of Schizophrenics

Abstract

Twenty schizophrenic males and 20 male college students expressed their aesthetic preferences for polygons and poems. The schizophrenics preferred the less complex polygons and the less novel poem, in contrast to the choices made by the normal Ss. There was no consistency between degree of novelty and complexity for the schizophrenics, but there was for the college students. The results are consistent with earlier findings that aesthetic preferences can differentiate two diverse groups, and with the theoretical work of McReynolds and Kubie.