Characteristics of Shapes Evoking Negative Emotions

- Examining Adolescents and Young Children -

Abstract

Different studies have examined impression formation regarding shapes. However, few studies have examined whether shapes directly evoke the emotions. An experiment was conducted to investigate characteristics of forms that evoke negative emotions among adolescents and young children. The results indicated that both adolescents and young children had negative emotions regarding circle-aggregate shapes. It might be possible that characteristics of circle-aggregate shapes include signals that developmentally and evolutionally facilitate approach-avoidance behaviors.