How "Outsider" Do We Like Our Art?: Influence of Artist Background on Perceptions of Warmth, Creativity, and Likeability.

What influences our perception of art? Past aesthetics research has covered such variables as theme (e.g., positive, negative), style (e.g., surreal, abstract), and level (e.g., artist eminence). Less research has examined the background of the artist. In this study, 314 participants blind to artist type rated paintings by five different groups of artists (outsider artists: average-deviant artists, prison inmates, serial killers, and nonoutsider artists: average-regular artists and eminent creators) on the following three dimensions: warmth, creativity, and likability. "Average-deviant" artists were rated the highest on all three dimensions, and serial killer artists received the lowest ratings on all three dimensions, suggesting that some element of an artist's background may impact how their work is perceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]