The effect of personality traits on architectural aesthetics' evaluation: Familiar and non-familiar environments as evaluated by architectural and non-architectural students

Our personality traits tend to play a significant role in our interaction with the environment. Besides, our personality is one of the most important factors of our subjectivity in dealing with the environment. This research investigated the effect of our personality traits on the perception of the built environment. One hundred and twelve (112) students from Jordan University of Science and Technology completed the Cattell sixteen-personality factors type B test. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, sixteen (60) students, divided into thirty (30) architecture students and thirty (30) non-architecture students, rated ten (10) non-familiar architectural environments on a seven step semantic differential scale that contained thirty two (32) items. In the second experiment, fifty-two (52) students divided into twenty-four (24) and twenty eight (28) architecture and non-architecture students, respectively rated ten (10) familiar environments on the same scale. Results pointed out that personality traits had a strong effect on our perception of the environment and that the relationship between environmental perception and personality traits is a dynamic one. Familiarity played a significant role in the results obtained on both personality traits and the correlated evaluation items. Furthermore, architecture students were more consistent in their most affective personality traits in environmental perception. They were more objective whereas non-architecture students were subjective and emotional in their responses.