In two studies, one employing Spanish students and the other English students, questionnaire measures of Sensation Seeking and Openness to Experience were correlated with liking for major music types, several short music excerpts, and eight categories of painting (presented as slides). Inter-correlations between music preference measures, painting preference, and personality are reported. In both samples, the Sensation Seeking Scale (Form V) and, particularly, the Experience Seeking sub-scale were associated with a factor contrasting liking for ‘hard rock’ music and ‘violent–abstract’ art with liking for ‘neutral–realistic’ art and ‘easy listening’ music. Several substantial relationships between aesthetics measures and Openness to Experience (from the NEO-PI-R) were also found, though mostly in the English sample. The results reinforce the view that personality dimensions such as Sensation Seeking and Openness are important influences on aesthetic judgment.
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Rawlings et al. (2000) studied this question.