Our aesthetic experience of external stimuli is shaped by our cultural and individual backgrounds, as well as by various perceptual, cognitive and emotional processes. Empirical research has identified numerous factors that influence our aesthetic perception of stimuli, including their characteristics and the context in which stimuli are perceived. Recently, the question has also been raised about the impact of engaging with art on other areas of life. This symposium will present various approaches to empirical aesthetics research. In the first talk, Barbara Mühlbauer will ask whether two evaluation methods — rating and pairwise comparison — produce comparable aesthetic judgements and how stable these judgements remain over time. Claudia Muth's second talk will address how specific stimulus characteristics, such as the complexity of visual matrix patterns and ambivalence in artistic photographs, influence various components of aesthetic perception. She will also report results concerning the relationship between these characteristics and eye movements. In the third talk, Ronald Hübner will explore potential causes of individual preferences for different visual spiral patterns, attributing them to individual creative dispositions. In the fourth talk, Gemma Schino will explore the affective and cognitive changes that arise from engaging with meaningful artwork through interactive analysis and interaction with others. She will present a model that considers the interactive contribution of affect and cognitive strategies, drawing a connection to the general influence of emotional processes on cognition. In the final talk, Jan-Filip Tameling will present a cognitive network model mapping the concepts relevant to experiencing art. He will propose a visual art schema that could help identify the cognitive mechanisms involved in aesthetic experiences. Overall, the symposium provides a comprehensive insight into the multifaceted world of empirical aesthetics research, offering an overview of the various approaches, models, and perspectives employed.