title: The motive for sensory pleasure: enjoyment of nature and its representation in painting, music, and literature.
abstract: Eight studies assessed the motive for sensory pleasure (MSP) involving a general disposition to enjoy and pursue pleasant nature-related experiences and avoid unpleasant nature-related experiences. The stated enjoyment of pleasant sights, smells, sounds, and tactile sensations formed a unitary construct that was distinct from sensation seeking, novelty preference, and need for cognition. MSP was found to be related to (a) enjoyment of pleasant nature scenes and music of high but not low clarity; (b) enjoyment of writings that portrayed highly detailed nature scenes; (c) enjoyment of pleasantly themed paintings and dislike of unpleasant paintings, as distinct from findings with Openness to Experience; (d) choice of pleasant nature scenes over exciting or intellectually stimulating scenes; (e) view duration and memory of artistically rendered quilts; (f) interest in detailed information about nature scenes; and (g) frequency of sensory-type suggestions for improvement of a museum exhibit.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Houston, TX 77204, USA. reisenberger2@ud.edu
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eisenberger
authors.forename: Ivan L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Sucharski
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yalowitz
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Ross J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Loomis
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paylor
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aselage
authors.forename: Meta Steiger
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009042:Motivation; D009144:Museums; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D019368:Nature; D010151:Paintings / Q000523:psychology*; D057181:Pleasure; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012677:Sensation; D013997:Time Factors