Preferences for Complexity-Simplicity and Symmetry-Asymmetry

A 2 × 2 design was employed; 70 undergraduates from two classes were exposed to complexity-simplicity and symmetry-asymmetry. Each class showed an overwhelming preference for the complex-symmetrical shapes (p < .001). Because complexity was preferred only in conjunction with symmetry, the results are considered consistent, in a qualified way, with the notion that naive Ss tend to prefer simplicity.