The affect disruption hypothesis: The effect of analytic thought on the fluency and appeal of art

Abstract

Prior research has shown that analytic thought decreases attitude consistency and quality. Halberstadt and Wilson (in press) proposed that the effects of analytic thought could be due to the interference with the use of simple, subjective judgement cues. This hypothesis was tested in the domain of art judgements. It was hypothesised that classification fluency (speed of processing) would be a simple cue to liking and that analytic thought would disrupt the fluency–liking relationship. Participants rated their liking for 20 target paintings and completed a speeded classification task. The results showed that analytic thought changed liking ratings and weakened the fluency–liking relationship. Discussion focuses on extending the effects of analytic thought to domains other than aesthetics where specific judgements are predictable from affective cues.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an Otago Research Grant to the first author.

The researchers thank Maciej Pociecha, and Marieah Rosenby for research support, Cindy Hall, Timothy Wilson, and Piotr Winkielman for advice on theoretical and empirical development, and Tony Tarasiewicz for providing target stimuli.

Notes

¹The participants from whom the pre-test fluency data were taken differed from the current participants—they had undergone a positive mood manipulation and had provided three classifications for each painting—but the correlation was replicated in the current data, r(20) = −.58, p<.01.