Beautiful (vs. ugly)

This belief concerns the overall and typical aesthetic quality of the universe. It holds that beauty, of all different types, pervades all things. Its opposite is the belief that ugliness, in all its forms, is the defining quality of most things and situations.

He looked around, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, strange and mysterious was the world!

— Hermann Hesse, the moment of Enlightenment, Siddhartha, 1922

Along with Interesting, Beautiful is central to the big-three primal Enticing. It is also highly predictive of many curiosity and exploratory behaviors, as well as well-being.

In a sample of more than 400 cancer patients, publised in 2024 and summarized in this Psychology Today article, patients with higher Beautiful world belief were more likely to choose palliative care options, which tend to emphasize treatment options that help people continue doing things they enjoy. A 2025 study of people in addiction recovery found that those scoring higher on Beautiful tended to have more recovery capital, things like friends, purpose, parents, and hope. Read a summary of that research on Psychology Today, here.

We think this is because people who see the world as beautiful expect to find value in the world around them. In a Beautiful world, hope can make more sense. After all, there might be something lovely just around the next corner.

More research still needs to be done.

Photo: Chris Mey