BIOAESTHETICS – ATTITUDES, KNOWLEDGE, BEHAVIOUR 167-184

Abstract

Bioaesthetics, an emerging field of study that reunites bioethics and aesthetics to lay the foundations of new theoretical and applied grammars for axiological, anthropological, and clinical investigations, is gaining popularity due to bio-art, in which animals are presented as objects of aesthetic appreciation, and the corresponding protests against its perceived cruelty. To gain an empirical basis, a questionnaire was developed to assess attitudes related to human-animal relationships, bioethics, and bio-art, and was administered to 219 participants (31.8% female, 67.2% male; M age = 31.31, SDage = 10.97). The Kayser-Meyer-Olkin value (p < .001) indicated that the data was factorizable and parallel analysis suggested that solutions which specified no more than seven factors adequately explained the data variability. Exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation revealed five factors which explained 54.45% of the variance. The five subscales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas > .81). Based on the content of the items, the dimensions were named Ethical Perspective (α = .91), Aesthetic Perspective (α = .83), Strong Emotions about Animals (α = .92), Human-Animal Similarity (α = .86), and Human Superiority (α = .82). The observed correlations between factors suggest the importance of including aspects related to bio-art and the feelings it evokes in the field of bioaesthetics.