Shestova M.A., Perfilieva N.V. The aesthetic experience of new media art among youth: the contribution of personal traits, immersiveness and interactivity

Studying the contribution of interactivity and immersiveness of multimedia technology-based exhibitions to aesthetic experience (AE) is of particular interest due to the increasing digitalization of the art sphere and young people's preference for new media art. The lack of comprehensive research on how personality traits contribute to AE and how AE serves as a variable for evaluating museum efficiency highlights the relevance of this work.

The purpose of the study is, based on the cognitive-personal AE model developed by the authors, to identify the contribution of personality traits, interactivity, and immersivness to young people’s aesthetic experience of new media art at the Jewish Museum, and to correlate the aesthetic experience with reasons for subsequent return (as an indicator of the museum’s efficiency).

The experimental method, methods of structural equation modeling, and structured interviews were used. The sample consists of 70 students from the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis: 59 women and 11 men aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 20.7; SD = 2.4). Assessment tools included the Aesthetic Judgment Questionnaire, Aesthetic Emotion Scale (AESTHEMOS), Express Questionnaire “Tolerance Index”, and the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy.

The results revealed that in the condition of interactivity, the aesthetic emotion of amusement increased. Mediation analysis showed that aesthetic judgments (valence, like, and interest) mediate the relationship between personal traits (ethnic tolerance, empathy – mirroring emotions) and aesthetic emotions (prototypical, epistemic, sadness, and animation). The results of the qualitative analysis showed that immersiveness affects the semantic component of AE. The reasons for returning to the museum (the desire to learn more about Jewish history and culture) are related to the aesthetic experience (judgments of like and aesthetic emotions of nostalgia and relaxation). 

Conclusion: interactivity and immersiveness contribute to AE; the cognitive-personal model of AE has been verified; and AE can be considered one of the variables for evaluating museum efficiency.

Key words: psychology of new media art, aesthetic experience, aesthetic emotions, aesthetic judgments, interactivity, immersiveness, personal traits, empathy, ethnic tolerance, museum, evaluation of efficiency

For citation: Shestova, M.A., Perfilieva, N.V. (2024). The aesthetic experience of new media art among youth: the contribution of personal traits, immersiveness and interactivity. New Psychological Research, No. 3, 165–197. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2024_04_03_08

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Anna Vladimirovna Makarchuk, Director of the Tolerance Center, for the opportunity to conduct this research at the Jewish Museum.

The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation № 24-78-00127, https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-78-00127/, «The aesthetic experience of new media art and its impact on the emotional and personal development of adolescents».