Assessing the desire for aesthetics: Adaptation and validation of the desire for aesthetics scale in German (DFAS-G).

OBJECTIVES: Individuals vary in their levels of Desire for Aesthetics, ranging from superficial interest to profound immersion. However, there is currently a lack of measurement tools available to assess Desire for Aesthetics across various domains within German-speaking populations. Addressing this gap, the present study aimed to develop the Desire for Aesthetics Scale in German (DFAS-G) and evaluate its psychometric properties to comprehensively assess aesthetic preferences and inclinations. METHODS: We conducted three consecutive studies and collected three samples of students and university employees. In Study 1 (N = 317), we selected a translated item pool using the forward-backward translation method, conducted cultural adaptation of the items, and assessed the scale's factor structure through an exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N = 304), we revised and cross-validated the scale using confirmatory factor analysis and examined the final 37-item DFAS-G for reliability and validity. In Study 3 (N = 300), we further examined the scales construct validity and assessed retest reliability 291 days after initial testing. RESULTS: The factor analysis conducted in Study 1 resulted in a four-factor solution representing the Desire for Aesthetics in four domains: Visual Arts, Individuals, Music, and Habitat. We found good internal consistency for the global scale (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87) and all subscales (0.74 to 0.82). We also found construct validity with Art Interest and facets of the Big Five personality trait Openness and provided first evidence of criterion validity and incremental validity of the DFAS-G global score toward Aesthetic Perception and Visual Arts toward Art Interest in Study 2. We further found evidence of convergent validity with the Openness facet Aesthetics, discriminant validity with the facet Values, and high test-retest reliability (0.85 to 1.00) in Study 3. CONCLUSIONS: The present article provides a scale for measuring DfA in German-speaking populations and first steps of its validation. The DFAS-G extends the repertoire of options for psychological research on individual differences in aesthetics appreciation. Follow-up studies could provide further evidence of the subscale's validity and equivalence to the original scale.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff": The conceptual structure of tattoo aesthetics.

While body modifications have increasingly gained acceptance and popularity, how different subpopulations aesthetically appreciate tattoos remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the conceptual structure underlying tattoo aesthetics, focusing on the effects of internalized social norms and expertise. Using a timed free-listing task, three groups (≤49 years, ≥50 years, and experts) comprising 497 participants were asked to write down adjectives that could describe tattoo aesthetics. Statistical analyses of frequency, cognitive salience indices, co-occurrence dimensions, semantic dimensions, similarity measures, and valences were applied and, to directly compare the three groups, a generalized Procrustes analysis was applied. The variance and complexity with which individuals verbally expressed their perceived aesthetic appeal of tattoos were highlighted. However, the results do not reveal a unified concept of beauty, nor do they present a clear bipolar dimension of beautiful/ugly for two of the three groups. Nevertheless, the concept of beauty was found to be prominent in tattoo aesthetics, and aesthetic and descriptive-evaluative dimensions were identified, with terms such as beautiful, ugly, multicolored, and interesting being the most notable adjectives, although not with the highest valence. Possible factors explaining the intracultural differences between the three groups are also discussed.

When personality gets under the skin: Need for uniqueness and body modifications.

Do individuals modify their bodies in order to be unique? The present study sought to investigate need for uniqueness (NfU) subcomponents as possible motives for modifying one's body. To this end, the study obtained information from 312 participants about their NfU (using the German NfU-G global scale and three sub-scales) and their body modifications (tattoos, piercings, and extreme body modifications such as tongue splitting). By analyzing the three subcomponents of NfU, the study was able to investigate the differential relationship of the sub-scales with the outcome measures, which facilitated a fine-grained understanding of the NfU-body-modification relationship. The study found that tattooed, pierced, and extreme-body-modified individuals had higher NfU-G scores than individuals without body modifications. Moreover, it seemed that individuals with tattoos took a social component into consideration while lacking concern regarding others' reaction toward their tattoos, although not wanting to cause affront. Pierced and extreme-body-modified individuals, contrarily, tended to display a propensity to actively flout rules and not worry about others' opinions on their modifications. However, although statistically significant, the effect size (d) for the NfU-G differences in the tattooed and pierced participants' mean scores was small to medium in all three subcomponents. The extreme-body-modified group presented medium and medium to large effects. Further, the study observed that the number of body modifications increased with an increasing NfU in tattooed and pierced individuals. These findings demonstrated multifaceted interrelations between the NfU, its subcomponents, and the three kinds of body modifications investigated in the present study.