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REVIEW ARTICLE

The psychology of beauty: Integrating the virtue-centric and unity-in-diversity theories of beauty

Rhett Diessner1* ,  Samantha R. Mattheiss2
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1 Psychology Department, Business & Social Sciences Division, Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho , United States of America
2 Psychology Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Felician University, Rutherford, New Jersey , United States of America
AC, 026360070 https://doi.org/10.36922/AC026360070
Received: 4 September 2026 | Revised: 9 October 2026 | Accepted: 17 October 2026 | Published online: 6 November 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The primary goal of this review is to delineate a set of controversial hypotheses regarding the psychology of beauty. It introduces the philosophical theory of the virtue-centric idea of beauty to the fields of communication and the psychology of aesthetics. The classical unity-in-diversity theory of beauty is described, and its integration with the virtue-centric idea of beauty is explained. A rational case is made that beauty is ubiquitous, based on the unity-in-diversity theory of beauty, and can be perceived in anything and everything when the aesthetic mindset is activated. The evidence that beauty is not an emotion, but rather is a cause of emotions, is examined, as well as the important role beauty has in causing self-transcendent emotions. Next, it explores how Homo sapiens transitioned from simply being attracted to features of nature for instrumental interests (green and blue spaces, and vistas) to being attracted to beauty qua beauty in a disinterested manner with purposeless purpose (Kant’s criteria). The review ends by investigating the parameters of the classic philosophic claim that all experiences of beauty are experiences of love.

Keywords
Beauty
Virtues
Unity in diversity
Aesthetics
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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