People from three very different societies—Scotland, Pakistan, and Papua—show clear cultural and age-related differences in their preference for decorated objects, according to a study published in Evolutionary Psychology.
Human use of ornamentation dates back tens of thousands of years and is evident in archaeological findings from regions ranging from North Africa to Australia. Explanations for its widespread presence include perceptual advantages, expressions of social identity, costly signaling, and evolved aesthetic preferences.
Much of the existing research has focused on prehistoric evidence or Indigenous populations with limited Western exposure, leaving uncertainty about whether modern cultural trends—especially Western minimalism—have influenced fundamental preferences for ornamentation.
To explore this issue, Piotr Sorokowski and his team investigated how cultural setting and age affect preferences for decorated versus plain objects. Their work drew on evolutionary psychology and developmental studies showing that children across cultures naturally draw, decorate, and embellish items, suggesting that a preference for ornamentation may appear early in life and later be shaped or reduced by cultural expectations.
The study involved 215 parent–child pairs from three cultural settings: Scotland (highly WEIRD), Pakistan (moderately WEIRD), and Papua (minimally influenced by Western culture). Participants in Scotland and Pakistan were recruited online through an international research firm, while those in Papua were recruited in person using snowball sampling.
The final sample consisted of 84 dyads from Scotland, 88 from Pakistan, and 43 from Papua, including members of the Dani and Yali communities in the Baliem Valley and Yalimo Highlands. Adults completed the task first, followed by children, with both groups performing the same object-choice task independently.
Participants were shown six pairs of images depicting common objects—three plates and three shirts. In each pair, one object was plain and the other featured a simple decoration, such as a floral design, leaf pattern, or abstract lines. The items were chosen to be widely recognizable and culturally neutral to ensure consistent interpretation across societies.
For each pair, participants selected the object they preferred. The order of presentation and the left–right placement of decorated items were systematically varied to minimize bias. Demographic information, including age, sex, and residence, was also collected. Based on the six choices, researchers calculated three preference scores: one for decorated plates, one for decorated shirts, and one overall ornamentation preference score.
The analyses revealed strong cultural differences. Participants from Papua showed the strongest preference for decorated objects, followed by those from Pakistan, while participants from Scotland showed the least preference. These patterns were consistent across plates, shirts, and overall scores, supporting the idea that cultural context—particularly Western minimalism—reduces enthusiasm for ornamentation.
Age-related differences were also observed, mainly in the Scottish sample. Children generally favored decorated objects more than adults, with the strongest effects seen in Scotland for both shirts and the combined preference score. In Pakistan, the age difference was smaller and appeared only for shirts, while in Papua, adults and children displayed similarly high preferences for ornamented items. Parent–child pairs showed moderate similarity in preferences, and in Scotland, ornamentation preference tended to decrease with age.
One central finding is that children across cultures—especially in Western settings—show a stronger preference for ornamentation than adults, suggesting that younger individuals may reflect a more basic or biologically rooted preference before cultural norms take effect. The authors propose that Papuan adults may be closer to this baseline preference, given how similar their choices were to those of children.
A limitation of the study is that it examined only two types of objects—plates and shirts—leaving other categories, such as interior décor, architecture, or sculpture, unexplored.
Overall, the results indicate that humans may have an evolutionarily based tendency to favor ornamentation, which cultural influences like Western minimalism can weaken but not completely eliminate.
The study, titled “Is Ornamentation a Universal Human Preference? Cross-Cultural and Developmental Evidence From Scotland, Pakistan, and Papua,” was conducted by Piotr Sorokowski, Jerzy Luty, Wiktoria Jędryczka, and Michal Mikolaj Stefanczyk.
