How Important is Beauty to You? The Development of the Desire for Aesthetics Scale

We comprehensively measured individual differences in aesthetic interest by developing The Desire for Aesthetics Scale (DFAS). In Study 1, a 40-item scale was given to 71 undergraduates. Based on item-total correlations, the worst items were revised or dropped, and new items were created. In Study 2, a 43-item scale was tested with 99 undergraduates from two colleges, and was given to one group 3 months later, demonstrating adequate test-retest reliability scores ( r = .74). In Study 3, a revised 42-item scale was given to 62 older, non-students. For the combined relevant samples from Study 2 and Study 3 ( N = 110), the final 36-item DFAS yielded good internal consistency ( alpha = .82, p < .001 compared to a test value of .70; 95% confidence interval: (0.764, 0.865)). Overall, in multiple samples, this scale resulted in reliable measurements of individual differences in motivation to seek out and care about a wide range of aesthetic stimuli.