Abstract
We examined which aspect ratios people favor in rectangles. About one thousand participants each in Japan and the West participated in the study. Rectangles with six different aspect ratios— 1, 1.2, 1.41, 1.62, 1.8, and 2—were presented, and the participants chose their favored rectangles. To ensure that the aspect ratios were the deciding factor for the choice of their favored ectangle, four different sets of rectangles with the above-mentioned six aspect ratios were presented. As a result for the West, there was a significant preference for golden rectangles in some sets and some sets where that was not the case. However, although there were some Japanese regions wherein rectangles with the aspect ratio of 1.41(≈√2) were significantly favored over squares; squares were significantly favored in all the four sets of rectangles that were presented in the entire country.
