Which Side Looks Better? Cultural Differences in Preference for Left- or Right-Facing Objects

Abstract

An oblique view of three-dimensional objects is preferred over a frontal or lateral view, partly because it is more familiar and easily recognizable. However, which side of a symmetric object looks better remains unsolved. Reading direction, handedness, and the functionality of objects have been suggested as the potential sources of directional bias. In this study, participants of three online surveys (total N = 1082) were asked to choose one item that looked better or was more aesthetically pleasing; the test was performed between 100 pairs of left- and right-facing mirror-images. The results showed that Japanese participants (both vertical and left-to-right readers) and Israeli participants (right-to-left readers) preferred left-facing images over right-facing images, whereas American participants (left-to-right readers) preferred right-facing images over left-facing images. Weak effects of handedness and object functionality were also found: Left-handers tended to choose right-facing images more than right-handers, and the view of objects with a handle that is graspable by the dominant hand was more likely to be chosen over the opposite side view, regardless of culture. Although previous studies have emphasized the role of reading direction, a close look at the results suggests that it cannot fully account for the preferred facing direction of oblique objects.

Abstract concepts: external influences, internal constraints, and methodological issues

“…Left-to-right French readers indicated more frequently that the rightward image was more aesthetically pleasing, "in flow" with their direction of reading, while right-to-left Hebrew readers preferred leftward objects. Similar patterns were found in follow-up studies with ethic groups of various reading directions (Ishii et al, 2011;Nachshon et al, 1999;Nittono et al, 2020) as well as for dynamic video stimuli (Friedrich et al, 2014(Friedrich et al, , 2016 and evaluation of fashion garments on the runway in left-to-right or rightto-left motion (Flath et al, 2019). When a series of objects are horizontally placed in a picture, left-to-right readers preferred compositions with the object of interest is to the right rather than on the left side of the composition (at the beginning of the habitual scanning direction (Christman & Pinger, 1997).…”

The Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA) in Farsi language: A scale validation and cultural adaptation study.

“…It is not surprising that cultural differences have also been shown to affect aesthetic preferences. Preferences for specific colors (Bonnardel et al, 2018; Hurlbert & Ling, 2007; Palmer et al, 2013), color palettes (e.g., warm vs. cool; Bonnardel et al, 2018), levels of complexity (e.g., preferred fractal dimension; Spehar et al, 2016; Street et al, 2016), and for aspects of composition (e.g., image structure, Palmer et al, 2013; and facing-direction of the aesthetic objects, Nittono et al, 2020) have all been found to differ between cultures. Another cross-cultural difference in aesthetic appreciation that has been described is that individuals from Eastern cultures tend to be more oriented toward “holistic” interpretations of artworks (vs. analytic; Senzaki et al, 2014) and toward the context (Bao et al, 2016; Masuda et al, 2008).…”

The subconscious impact of line orientations in background images on memory of Chinese written characters

“…Meanwhile, from perspectives of culture [ 29 , 30 ] and neuroscience research progress [ 31 ], user image perception and directionality preference are affected by the reading habit [ 32 ]. Reading habits also cause asymmetry in nonverbal behaviors [ 31 , 33 ], for example, the judgement of bisection lines [ 31 , 33 , 34 ], the preference of facing direction of objects [ 30 ], and even drawing behavior [ 35 ]. Left-to-right readers prefer things with left-to-right directionality [ 36 ] and have an aesthetic preference for images that face rightward [ 29 ].…”