Icons and paintings: differences in psychological distance, empathy, and the feeling of personal communication

Background: There exists a long history of claimed qualitative differences between experiences of Western and Eastern religious art. Our study sought to examine empirically and quantitatively whether those reports are veridical and, if so, to what extent. We explored psychological distance, empathy, and the feeling of personal communication that humans experience when viewing Western paintings and Eastern icons.

Method: We recruited three groups of self-identifying participants: Western Christians, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and non-believers. Participants viewed 15 digital images of artworks depicting events of the Gospels. Using self-report measures, we assessed temporal and spatial distance between participants and the depicted Gospel events, the feeling of personal communication, and cognitive and emotional empathy towards the depicted figures.

Results: Across all participants, temporal and spatial distance were greater for Eastern icons compared to Western paintings. Cognitive and emotional empathy were higher for paintings compared to icons. No differences in the feeling of personal communication were found between icons and paintings. Among non-believers, temporal and spatial distance related to both icons and paintings were greater compared to Western and Eastern Christians. On the other hand, the feeling of personal communication was greater among Western and Eastern Christians, as well as emotional and cognitive empathy, compared to non-believers.

Conclusions: Aesthetic properties of icons and paintings, as well as individual differences in religious backgrounds, influence the way viewers experience psychological distance, empathy, and the feeling of personal communication when observing religious art.