The nature of awe: Elicitors, appraisals, and effects on self-concept

Experiences of Awe Mediate Ketamine's Antidepressant Effects: Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial in Treatment-Resistant Depression

Background

Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, provides rapid antidepressant effects. Although much research has focused on neural and molecular mechanisms of action, it is critical to also consider psychological mechanisms that may contribute to its therapeutic efficacy. The construct of an awe-inducing experience, which is a well-validated psychological phenomenon tied to emotional well-being, had not been applied previously in ketamine research.

Methods

One hundred sixteen participants with depression, 77 of whom received a ketamine infusion (0.5 mg/kg over 40 minutes) and 39 patients who received saline placebo, completed a validated measure of awe (the Awe Experience Scale [AWE-S]) at 40 minutes postinfusion. AWE-S scores were examined as potential mediators of depression outcomes (% improvement in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale score) at 5 postinfusion time points (24 hours and 5, 12, 21, and 30 days). Dissociative effects, measured by Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale scores, were tested in parallel mediation models for comparison.

Results

We found that the psychological experience of awe was strongly reported by participants during ketamine infusion, but not saline infusion, and there were significant associations between total AWE-S scores and Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale score improvement (% change) in the ketamine arm at all 5 time points. Furthermore, at all 5 time points, total AWE-S scores statistically mediated the relationship between ketamine and Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale scores. By contrast, Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale scores did not mediate outcomes at any time point.

Conclusions

Ketamine infusion strongly induced heightened feelings of awe, and these experiences consistently mediated depression outcomes over a 1- to 30-day period, unlike general dissociative side effects. The specific awe-inspiring properties of ketamine may contribute to its antidepressant effects.

Experiences of Awe and Gratitude and Related Triggers Among Religious Brothers and Sisters: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in Germany

A cross-sectional survey among religious brothers and sisters (n = 250) with their specific lifestyle and related spiritual practices stated moments of awe perceptions. They responded to both the Awe/Gratitude scale and to free text fields to substantiate their quantitative responses. Qualitative content analysis of their free text responses resulted in six main categories of awe triggers: (1) Nature, (2) Special Moments, (3) Transcendence Perceptions, (4) Religious practices, (5) Distinct People, and (6) Aesthetics, Art and Culture. Awe perceptions can be an immediate feeling and the outcome of a process of reflection in response to admiration, inspiration, and elevation. As these perceptions are related to psychological well-being and prosocial behaviors, their training can generate positive effects on quality of life.

The Impact of Awe on Existential Isolation: Evidence for Contrasting Pathways

We propose that awe has multifaceted relations with existential isolation, a feeling of separation between the self and others or the world. Three studies examined the relation between awe and existential isolation via feelings of small self (vastness, self-size, self-perspectives) and a sense of connectedness. Awe (vs. a control topic) was induced either using virtual reality (Study 1) or a recall task (Studies 2 and 3) and was indirectly associated with higher and lower levels of existential isolation through differing pathways. Awe was associated with lower feelings of existential isolation via an increased sense of vastness, which in turn predicted greater connectedness; whereas awe was associated with higher feelings of existential isolation via increased sense of feeling small, which in turn predicted lower connectedness. This work advances understanding of the complex nature of awe-revealing its competing effects on the self and the social connectedness pathways through which awe can influence existential isolation.

The effects of awe on interpersonal forgiveness: the mediating role of small-self

Awe could increase prosocial behavior, but little is known about its effects on interpersonal forgiveness. This study aims to explore the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and the underlying mechanism of this process, using a combination of questionnaires, economic game and computational modeling. In Study 1, we utilized Trait Awe Scale (TAS) and Forgiveness Trait Scale (FTS) to examine the association between trait awe and trait forgiveness. In Study 2, we employed pre-screened video to induce awe, happy and neutral emotions, then evaluated the effects of induced awe on small-self and interpersonal forgiveness in hypothetical interpersonal offensive situations (Study 2a) and two economic interaction situations (Study 2b). Results from Study 1 indicate that there is a positive correlation between trait awe and trait forgiveness. Study 2 reveal that awe can enhance interpersonal forgiveness in both interpersonal conflict situations and economic interaction situations, and this effect is mediated by the sense of small-self elicited by awe. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms through which awe may influence forgiveness. Further research in this area could help to elucidate the potential applications of awe-based interventions in promoting forgiveness and positive social interactions.

Synthetic surprise as the foundation of the psychedelic experience

Psychedelic agents, such as LSD and psilocybin, induce marked alterations in consciousness via activation of the 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2ARs). We hypothesize that psychedelics enforce a state of synthetic surprise through the biased activation of the 5-HTRs system. This idea is informed by recent insights into the role of 5-HT in signaling surprise. The effects on consciousness, explained by the cognitive penetrability of perception, can be described within the predictive coding framework where surprise corresponds to prediction error, the mismatch between predictions and actual sensory input. Crucially, the precision afforded to the prediction error determines its effect on priors, enabling a dynamic interaction between top-down expectations and incoming sensory data. By integrating recent findings on predictive coding circuitry and 5-HT2ARs transcriptomic data, we propose a biological implementation with emphasis on the role of inhibitory interneurons. Implications arise for the clinical use of psychedelics, which may rely primarily on their inherent capacity to induce surprise in order to disrupt maladaptive patterns.

Facilitative effect of awe on cooperation: The role of the small-self and self-other inclusion

Awe has been theorized as a kind of self-transcendence emotion that has an important impact on individual social behavior. Based on the self-transcendence of awe, this study examined how awe can increase small-self and self-other inclusion to facilitate cooperation among individuals across three studies (N = 1162). First, the relationship between awe, cooperative propensity, and the mediating role of small-self and self-other inclusion in the relationship was examined using questionnaires on trait levels (Study 1). Second, awe emotions were induced from the state level through behavioral experiments to verify the facilitative effect on cooperative behavior in multiple rounds of public goods dilemma (Study 2). Third, by adding the induction of negative awe to discuss the impact of different valence of awe on cooperative behavior, the mediating role of small-self and self-other inclusion was supported (Study 3). Results show that awe has a facilitative effect on cooperation, which provides strong evidence for the positive social function of self-transcendent emotional awe.

Seeing awe: How children perceive awe-inspiring visual experiences

Awe is a profound, self-transcendent emotion. To illuminate its origin, four preregistered studies examined how U.S. 4- to 9-year-old children perceive awe-inspiring stimuli (N = 444, 55% female, 58% White, tested in 2020-2023). Awe-inspiring expansive nature (Study 1) and natural disaster scenes (Study 2) evoked perceived vastness, motivation to explore, and awareness of the unknown more than everyday scenes did (d ranging 0.32-1.76). Compared to expansive social stimuli, expansive nature stimuli more positively affected children's sense of self (Study 3). Diverse awe-inspiring scenes (vast nature, natural disasters, and slow-motion objects) all elicited awe and higher learning motivation than everyday scenes did (Study 4). These findings suggest that children appreciate awe-inspiring visual experiences, illuminating the origins and nature of awe as a self-transcendent experience.

The Effect of Group Identity on Chinese College Students' Social Mindfulness: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

Purpose

The current study examined the effect of group identity on social mindfulness, how awe mediates this effect, and lastly how empathy may moderate the various indirect pathway.

Methods

A total of 2041 Chinese college students were recruited from different universities or colleges to complete the questionnaire including group identity scale, awe scale, empathy scale and social mindfulness scale. This study was conducted using random and convenient sampling, as well as SPSS and its plugin PROCESS as a statistical tool.

Results

The present study showed that group identity was positively associated with awe and social mindfulness. Awe was positively associated with social mindfulness. Empathy further moderated the relationship between group identity and awe, awe and social mindfulness, as well as group identity and social mindfulness.

Conclusion

The findings of this study shed light on a correlation between group identity and social mindfulness. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the practical importance of intervening in the empathy level of students who have poor empathy in order to increase their social mindfulness.

Individual differences in scientists' aesthetic disposition, aesthetic experiences, and aesthetic sensitivity in scientific work

Introduction

The role of personality in shaping engagement with aesthetics in science has been almost entirely unexplored. Whereas artists and arts settings (e.g., museums) are well-studied from a psychological perspective, the practice of science has often been seen as purely rational or dry. In response, this study presents novel findings on the critical role of scientists' individual differences, which shape their engagement with aesthetics, such as the frequency of their experiences of beauty, wonder, and awe in their scientific work.

Methods

Based on a very large and representative four-country study of scientists in the fields of biology and physics (N = 3,092), this study analyzed the associations of Big Five personality traits among scientists with (i) dispositional aesthetics (DPES-awe), (ii) the frequency of aesthetic experiences in scientific work, and (iii) aesthetic sensitivity in science. These survey-weighted OLS regression models included extensive statistical controls for sociodemographic factors.

Results

As hypothesized, openness is positively, and neuroticism is negatively linked with dispositional aesthetics, the frequency of aesthetic experiences in scientific work, and aesthetic sensitivity in science. Unexpectedly, agreeableness and conscientiousness (but not extraversion) are highly significant and strong predictors of the three trait and state aesthetic engagement variables.

Discussion

The aesthetic engagement and personality framework of this paper is empirically supported and demonstrates the importance of personality types of scientists in the practice of science. The unexpectedly strong association of agreeableness with aesthetic engagement points to the importance of cooperation, collaboration, and communication to maximize scientific creativity.

Are Self-transcendent Emotions One Big Family? An Empirical Taxonomy of Positive Self-transcendent Emotion Labels

In the past decade, there has been a growing amount of research on so-called self-transcendent emotions, mainly in the domain of positive emotions. However, most candidate self-transcendent emotions (e.g., Awe, Gratitude, Being Moved, Wonder) have been studied in isolation, leaving the commonalities and the differences of their phenomenology unknown. In the present paper, we sought to identify the phenomenological nature of main families of self-transcendent emotions. We drew on two large datasets (N1 = 3,113; N2 = 1,443) in which participants had to recall an emotional episode or to watch emotional videos and had to report their emotions through a list of 40 emotion labels. Participants were also presented with a large list of items probing their cognitive appraisals, bodily feelings, and action tendencies. Using a principal component analysis, we identified three main dimensions of positive emotions: hedonic, social, and epistemic states. Candidate self-transcendent emotions were distributed across two dimensions, suggesting that at least two main different families of self-transcendent emotions should be distinguished. Our results also allowed us to identify self-reported cognitive appraisals, bodily feelings, and action tendencies characteristic of each family.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-023-00194-1.

Why We Gather: A New Look, Empirically Documented, at Émile Durkheim's Theory of Collective Assemblies and Collective Effervescence

For Durkheim, individuals' survival and well-being rest on cultural resources and social belonging that must be revived periodically in collective assemblies. Durkheim's concern was to clarify how these assemblies achieve this revitalization. An intensive examination of primitive religions led him to identify successive levels of engagement experienced by participants and to develop explanatory principles relevant to all types of collective gatherings. Durkheim's conception is widely referred to nowadays. However, the question of its empirical status remains open. We extracted from his text his main statements and translated them into research questions. We then examined each question in relation to current theories and findings. In particular, we relied on the plethora of recent cognitive and social-psychology studies that document conditions of reduced self-other differentiation. Abundant data support that each successive moment of collective assemblies contributes to blurring this differentiation. Ample support also exists that because shared emotions are increasingly amplified in collective context, they can fuel high-intensity experiences. Moreover, recent studies of self-transcendent emotions can account for the self-transformative effects described by Durkheim at the climax of collective assemblies. In conclusion, this century-old model is remarkably supported by recent results, mostly collected in experimental settings.

Psychedelic Science, Contemplative Practices, and Indigenous and Other Traditional Knowledge Systems: Towards Integrative Community-Based Approaches in Global Health

As individuals and communities around the world confront mounting physical, psychological, and social threats, three complimentary mind-body-spirit pathways toward health, wellbeing, and human flourishing remain underappreciated within conventional practice among the biomedical, public health, and policy communities. This paper reviews literature on psychedelic science, contemplative practices, and Indigenous and other traditional knowledge systems to make the case that combining them in integrative models of care delivered through community-based approaches backed by strong and accountable health systems could prove transformative for global health. Both contemplative practices and certain psychedelic substances reliably induce self-transcendent experiences that can generate positive effects on health, well-being, and prosocial behavior, and combining them appears to have synergistic effects. Traditional knowledge systems can be rich sources of ethnobotanical expertise and repertoires of time-tested practices. A decolonized agenda for psychedelic research and practice involves engaging with the stewards of such traditional knowledges in collaborative ways to codevelop evidence-based models of integrative care accessible to the members of these very same communities. Going forward, health systems could consider Indigenous and other traditional healers or spiritual guides as stakeholders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based approaches for safely scaling up access to effective psychedelic treatments.

Kin relationality and ecological belonging: a cultural psychology of Indigenous transcendence

In this article, we consider prosociality through the lens of an Indigenous "ethics of belonging" and its two constitutive concepts: kin relationality and ecological belonging. Kin relationality predicates that all living beings and phenomena share a familial identity of interdependence, mutuality, and organization. Within the value system of ecological belonging, an individual's identity is constituted in relation to the natural environment, centered on the sentiments of responsibility and reverence for Nature. We detail how Indigenous perspectives upon prosociality differ from Western scientific accounts in terms of the motives, scope, and rewards of altruistic action. Grounded in this understanding, we then profile three self-transcendent states, compassion, gratitude, and awe, and their similarities across Indigenous and Western approaches, and how kin relationality and ecological belonging give rise to cultural variations. We consider convergent insights across Indigenous and Western science concerning the role of ritual and narrative and the cultural cultivation of kin relationality and ecological belonging. We conclude by highlighting how these two core concepts might guide future inquiry in cultural psychology.

Development and Validation of an Ability Measure of Emotion Understanding: The Core Relational Themes of Emotion (CORE) Test

Emotion understanding (EU) ability is associated with healthy social functioning and psychological well-being. Across three studies, we develop and present validity evidence for the Core Relational Themes of Emotions (CORE) Test. The test measures people's ability to identify relational themes underlying 19 positive and negative emotions. Relational themes are consistencies in the meaning people assign to emotional experiences. In Study 1, we developed and refined the test items employing a literature review, expert panel, and confusion matrix with a demographically diverse sample. Correctness criteria were determined using theory and prior research, and a progressive (degrees of correctness) paradigm was utilized to score the test. In Study 2, the CORE demonstrated high internal consistency and a confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional factor structure. The CORE showed evidence of convergence with established EU ability measures and divergent relationships with verbal intelligence and demographic characteristics, supporting its construct validity. Also, the CORE was associated with less relational conflict. In Study 3, the CORE was associated with more adaptive and less maladaptive coping and higher well-being on multiple indicators. A set of effects remained, accounting for variance from a widely used EU test, supporting the CORE's incremental validity. Theoretical and methodological contributions are discussed.

Planet earth calling: unveiling the brain's response to awe and driving eco-friendly consumption

Eco-friendly consumption is important for solving climate crisis and moving humanity toward a better future. However, few consumers are willing to pay premiums for eco-friendly products. We investigated the psychological and neural factors that can increase eco-friendly consumption. We propose an experience of awe, in which the individual self is temporarily attenuated as the importance of beings other than oneself increases. Behavioral (Study 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; Study 2) experiments were conducted to explore the awe mechanisms through which climate crisis messages lead to eco-friendly consumption. In Study 1, we found participants felt awe when exposed to climate crisis messages, and their choice of eco-friendly consumption increased. In Study 2, we found that when individuals were exposed to messages depicting the climate crisis (as opposed to a control stimulus), their brains exhibited a lower level of activation in the self-awareness processing and a higher level of activation in external attention processing areas. These results suggest that the awe experience plays an important role in promoting eco-friendly consumption. Marketing must evolve from satisfying basic individual needs to a high level for the well-being of humanity, the planet, and the biosphere. This study sheds light on our understanding of human perceptions of the climate crisis and suggests an effective communication strategy to increase individuals' eco-friendly actions.

Cultivating Awe: A Means to Inspire Sciencing

Awe is an emotion involving a feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one's current understanding of the world and is associated with creating a sense of wonder and curiosity. The author explores how awe experiences can have a role in igniting and sustaining research endeavors, and how nurse researchers can cultivate everyday awe experiences as sources of inspiration when engaged in the art of nurse sciencing.

Emotional content and sharing on Facebook: A theory cage match

While emotional content predicts social media post sharing, competing theories of emotion imply different predictions about how emotional content will influence the virality of social media posts. We tested and compared these theoretical frameworks. Teams of annotators assessed more than 4000 multimedia posts from Polish and Lithuanian Facebook for more than 20 emotions. We found that, drawing on semantic space theory, modeling discrete emotions independently was superior to models examining valence (positive or negative), activation/arousal (high or low), or clusters of emotions and was on par with but had more explanatory power than a seven basic emotion model. Certain discrete emotions were associated with post sharing, including both positive and negative and relatively lower and higher activation/arousal emotions (e.g., amusement, cute/kama muta, anger, and sadness) even when controlling for number of followers, time up, topic, and Facebook angry reactions. These results provide key insights into better understanding of social media post virality.

Social media emotions annotation guide (SMEmo): Development and initial validity

The proper measurement of emotion is vital to understanding the relationship between emotional expression in social media and other factors, such as online information sharing. This work develops a standardized annotation scheme for quantifying emotions in social media using recent emotion theory and research. Human annotators assessed both social media posts and their own reactions to the posts' content on scales of 0 to 100 for each of 20 (Study 1) and 23 (Study 2) emotions. For Study 1, we analyzed English-language posts from Twitter (N = 244) and YouTube (N = 50). Associations between emotion ratings and text-based measures (LIWC, VADER, EmoLex, NRC-EIL, Emotionality) demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 2, we tested an expanded version of the scheme in-country, in-language, on Polish (N = 3648) and Lithuanian (N = 1934) multimedia Facebook posts. While the correlations were lower than with English, patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with EmoLex and NRC-EIL still held. Coder reliability was strong across samples, with intraclass correlations of .80 or higher for 10 different emotions in Study 1 and 16 different emotions in Study 2. This research improves the measurement of emotions in social media to include more dimensions, multimedia, and context compared to prior schemes.

Spirituality of Science: Implications for Meaning, Well-Being, and Learning

Scientists often refer to spiritual experiences with science. This research addresses this unique component of science attitudes-spirituality of science: feelings of meaning, awe, and connection derived through scientific ideas. Three studies (N = 1,197) examined individual differences in Spirituality of Science (SoS) and its benefits for well-being, meaning, and learning. Spirituality of Science was related to belief in science, but unlike other science attitudes, spirituality of science was also associated with trait awe and general spirituality (Study 1). spirituality of science also predicted meaning in life and emotional well-being in a group of atheists and agnostics, showing that scientific sources of spirituality can provide similar psychological benefits as religious spirituality (Study 2). Finally, Spirituality of Science predicted stronger engagement and recall of scientific information (Study 3). Results provide support for an experience of spirituality related to science, with benefits for meaning, well-being, and learning.

Nurturing wellbeing amidst the climate crisis: on the need for a focus on wellbeing in the field of climate psychology

Awareness of climate change can prompt overwhelming emotions that threaten wellbeing such as anger, despair, and anxiety. Neoliberal views of human beings and their mental health strip the individual from their social and material context, driving personal dissatisfaction, social isolation, and ecological destruction. In this piece, we contend that advancements in scholarly research on wellbeing offer valuable insights for addressing the challenges posed by the climate crises while respecting human wellbeing. Such frameworks, which include the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) and the GENIAL model, emphasize the interconnected nature of people, communities, and their environment. In turn, they help to lay the groundwork for the development of 'post-growth' societies focused on supporting outcomes such as human wellbeing, social justice, and environmental regeneration. There are a number of different actions that practitioners and even lay individuals can take to promote positive outcomes and effective responses in the face of the climate crisis. These actions, discussed in the concluding sections of the article, aim to foster wellbeing and impactful engagement with the challenges posed by climate change.

The role of the body in the experience of installation art: a case study of visitors' bodily, emotional, and transformative experiences in Tomás Saraceno's "in orbit"

Installation art, with its immersive and participatory character, has been argued to require the use and awareness of the body, which potentially constitute key parts of the artwork's experience and appreciation. Heightened body awareness is even argued to be a key to particularly profound emotional or even transformative states, which have been frequently ascribed to this genre. However, the body in the experience of installation art has rarely been empirically considered. To address this gap, we investigated the body's role in the experience of Tomás Saraceno's in orbit installation. Based on a list of self-report items created from a review of the theoretical literature, we-for the first time-captured (quantitatively and qualitatively): what kind of subjective bodily experiences visitors (N = 230) reported, how these items grouped into clusters (using network science), and how these relate to emotion, art appraisal, and transformative outcomes. Network analysis of the items determined four communities related to "interoception," "presence," "disturbance," and "proprioception." Proprioception (e.g., awareness of balance/movement/weight) turned out to be a significant determinant of art appreciation in our study, and, together with "disturbing" body experiences (feeling awkward/watched/chills), coincided with transformation. We also assessed individual differences in body awareness yet did not find that these moderate those relationships. We suggest future research on installation art based on a more unified assessment of the role of the body in embodied-enactive aesthetics and its relation to the intensity and impact of art experience in general.

Dispositional Awe and Self-Worth in Chinese Undergraduates: The Suppressing Effects of Self-Concept Clarity and Small Self

BACKGROUND

The positive role of dispositional awe has been seen in personality and in health. However, its impact on self-worth and internal mechanisms have been unclear.

PURPOSES

This study explored the relationship between dispositional awe and self-worth and the roles of self-concept clarity and the small self in this association.

METHODS

With a cluster sampling, a cross-sectional sample of 1888 Chinese undergraduates were recruited from Fuzhou, a southeast coastal city in the P.R.C. All the data were analyzed with Pearson's correlations and the structural equation model (SEM) based on SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 8.1.

RESULTS

Dispositional awe was positively correlated with both personal-oriented and social-oriented self-worth (rs = 0.12, 0.27) and was also positively correlated with small self (r = 0.33) but negatively correlated with self-concept clarity (r = -0.18); in the full model, the direct effect of dispositional awe on society-oriented self-worth was 0.36 (75%); the indirect effects of small self and self-concept clarity were -0.09 (18.8%) and -0.01 (2.1%), respectively; and the chain indirect effect was -0.02 (4.2%). Similarly, the direct effect of dispositional awe on person-oriented self-worth was 0.50 (83.3%); the indirect effects of small self and self-concept clarity were -0.07 (11.7%) and -0.01 (1.7%), respectively; and the chain indirect effect was -0.02 (3.3%); all the indirect effects were suppressing effects, for they were contrary to the direct effects.

CONCLUSION

This study suggested that dispositional awe could help people better understand themselves and enhance their sense of self-worth.

The Beyond-Human Natural World: Providing Meaning and Making Meaning

Much academic and media attention has been focused on how nature contributes to psychological health, yet, most of this focus has been on happiness or hedonic well-being. Although numerous writers and researchers have linked connecting with nature as a pathway to meaning in life, an integrated overview has not yet (to our knowledge) been offered. Our manuscript is thus of both theoretical and practical importance with respect to finding meaning in life. In this hybrid commentary/review paper, we examine the link between meaning in life and relating to the beyond-human natural world. Through presenting supportive empirical research and interdisciplinary insights, we make the case that connecting with the natural world provides us with meaning in various ways. We discuss how nature is a common source of meaning in people's lives and how connecting with nature helps to provide meaning by addressing our need to find coherence, significance/mattering, and purpose (the three aspects comprising the tripartite model of meaning life). We also consider how connecting with nature enhances our experiential appreciation for life, a fourth aspect of meaning in life recently proposed. Our discussion then expands to examining nature as a place of attachment. Going beyond how nature provides us with meaning, we consider how engaging in nature-based activities provides an avenue for many people to build meaningful lives. We close by considering how threats to nature are a threat to meaning in life.

NASA resilience and leadership: examining the phenomenon of awe

This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, along with related resilience practices, is perceived by a NASA medical and mental health professional, who also serves in a leadership role, and how awe has impacted their work and personal life. Considering both their leadership role and how their work involves supporting the wellbeing of astronauts pre-mission, during missions, and post-mission, the potential impact of awe on the NASA expert has individual implications along with many others, especially in stressful environments. The results indicate that reflecting on awe experiences can support a person finding meaning and purpose in their life, evoke gratitude, increase social connectedness, promote optimism and other resilience skills in the moment, and generally have a sustainable positive effect.

Awe and wise reasoning in adolescents: The mediating role of small-self and need for relatedness

Background

Interpersonal conflict is inevitable in the adolescent socialization process; wise reasoning is applicable to and effective for interpersonal conflict problem solving. However, the role of emotions in wise reasoning remains unclear and less explored in empirical research. According, this study explored the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, and proposed the influence pathways from the self-transcendence of awe to examine the facilitative effect of decentralized emotions on wise reasoning. Method: A total of 812 tenth and eleventh graders (age range 15-19 years, M = 16.07, SD = 0.76, 54.6% male) from a high school in Zhejiang, China completed self-report questionnaires that measured awe, small-self, need for relatedness, and wise reasoning via an online survey.

Results

Structural equation models demonstrated that adolescents' trait awe positively predicted their wisdom in conflict situations-wise reasoning directly and indirectly through the parallel mediating role of small-self and need for relatedness.

Conclusions

This finding validates the facilitative effect of decentralized emotions on wise reasoning and the internal and external influence pathways. The study laid the foundation for future exploration of the role of emotion types on wise reasoning and provided practical guidance for the solution of interpersonal conflict in social interactions among adolescents.

Psychedelic replications in virtual reality and their potential as a therapeutic instrument: an open-label feasibility study

Background

Recent research has shown promising results for the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. One popular view claims that these benefits are mediated by the subjective experiences induced by these substances. Based on this, we designed a virtual reality experience, Psyrreal, that mimics the phenomenological components of psychedelic experiences.

Aims

We aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of Psyrreal and psychedelic VR experiences in treating depressive symptoms as well as explore the effect of Psyrreal on subjective factors which have been suggested to mediate the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.

Methods

In this open-label feasibility study, thirteen participants with mild-to-moderate depression underwent a 2-day therapeutic intervention implementing Psyrreal. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2) at the start of the intervention and 2 weeks after. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews after Psyrreal was also conducted as an additional assessment of the method.

Results

A 2-day intervention implementing Psyrreal led to significant decreases in depressive symptoms at the 2-week follow-up (n = 10, p = 0.007, Hedges' g = 1.046) measured by the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2). The analysis of semi-structured interviews suggests that Psyrreal could lead to insight and alterations in the sense of self in some people.

Conclusion

This work proposes a novel method using virtual reality to augment the treatment of psychological disorders as well as to precisely investigate the mediating subjective factors of the therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances. Our preliminary results suggest that VR experiences combined with psychological support show potential in treating depressive symptoms and further research into similar methods is warranted.

Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health

How do experiences in nature or in spiritual contemplation or in being moved by music or with psychedelics promote mental and physical health? Our proposal in this article is awe. To make this argument, we first review recent advances in the scientific study of awe, an emotion often considered ineffable and beyond measurement. Awe engages five processes-shifts in neurophysiology, a diminished focus on the self, increased prosocial relationality, greater social integration, and a heightened sense of meaning-that benefit well-being. We then apply this model to illuminate how experiences of awe that arise in nature, spirituality, music, collective movement, and psychedelics strengthen the mind and body.

Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children

Rooted in the novel and the mysterious, awe is a common experience in childhood, but research is almost silent with respect to the import of this emotion for children. Awe makes individuals feel small, thereby shifting their attention to the social world. Here, we studied the effects of art-elicited awe on children's prosocial behavior toward an out-group and its unique physiological correlates. In two preregistered studies (Study 1: N = 159, Study 2: N = 353), children between 8 and 13 years old viewed movie clips that elicited awe, joy, or a neutral (control) response. Children who watched the awe-eliciting clip were more likely to spend their time on an effortful task (Study 1) and to donate their experimental earnings (Studies 1 and 2), all toward benefiting refugees. They also exhibited increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with social engagement. We discuss implications for fostering prosociality by reimagining children's environments to inspire awe at a critical age.

Awe in the workplace promotes prosocial behavior

In the existing literature on awe, many research findings indicate the positive impact of awe on prosocial behavior. However, very few studies have examined awe in organizational contexts, and researchers have neglected to investigate the effect of awe induced by workplace elicitors. In a between-subject experimental study (N = 264), we introduced awe elicited by work factors, and examined its effect on prosocial intention and behavior (as compared with the neutral emotion condition and pleasantness condition). The results showed significant differences between prosocial intention and prosocial behavior in the three conditions. Importantly, awe evoked by workplace elicitors has a significant positive effect on prosocial behavior, and prosocial intention mediates this relationship. This study is among the first to examine the impact of awe induced by workplace elicitors, the results of which suggest that managers should consider creating workplaces that inspire awe.

More than meets the eye: The role of sensory dimensions in psychedelic brain dynamics, experience, and therapeutics

Psychedelics are undergoing a major resurgence of scientific and clinical interest. While multiple theories and frameworks have been proposed, there is yet no universal agreement on the mechanisms underlying the complex effects of psychedelics on subjective experience and brain dynamics, nor their therapeutic benefits. Despite being prominent in psychedelic phenomenology and distinct from those elicited by other classes of hallucinogens, the effects of psychedelics on low-level sensory - particularly visual - dimensions of experience, and corresponding brain dynamics, have often been disregarded by contemporary research as 'epiphenomenal byproducts'. Here, we review available evidence from neuroimaging, pharmacology, questionnaires, and clinical studies; we propose extensions to existing models, provide testable hypotheses for the potential therapeutic roles of psychedelic-induced visual hallucinations, and simulations of visual phenomena relying on low-level cortical dynamics. In sum, we show that psychedelic-induced alterations in low-level sensory dimensions 1) are unlikely to be entirely causally reconducible to high-level alterations, but rather co-occur with them in a dialogical interplay, and 2) are likely to play a causally relevant role in determining high-level alterations and therapeutic outcomes. We conclude that reevaluating the currently underappreciated role of sensory dimensions in psychedelic states will be highly valuable for neuroscience and clinical practice, and that integrating low-level and domain-specific aspects of psychedelic effects into existing nonspecific models is a necessary step to further understand how these substances effect both acute and long-term change in the human brain.

The Buffering Effect of Awe on Negative Emotions in Self-Threatening Situations

Negative emotions arising from self-threat are ubiquitous and harmful. We propose that the experience of awe awakens the small-self, which in turn alleviates these negative emotions. We examine our theoretical hypotheses in four studies employing various self-threatening situations, using distinct awe manipulations and involving participants from different countries. The participants experiencing awe reported lower levels of negative emotions arising from self-threat compared with those in the neutral (Study 1) and happiness conditions (Study 2). Moreover, we verified that the small-self mediates the alleviating effect of awe on negative emotions through measuring (Study 3) and manipulating the small-self (Study 4). Beyond a set of practical implications for promoting mental health and well-being, our research also provides novel insights into awe, self-appraisal, and self-threat.

Awe promotes moral expansiveness via the small-self

The experience of awe has been shown to challenge how people think about themselves and the world around them, linking them to something greater than themselves. We investigated whether this emotional experience of awe may also challenge the boundaries of our moral consideration, leading to a generalized expansion in our moral worlds. Across five studies (N = 990), we examined whether awe might promote moral expansiveness; that is, increased moral concern across a broad range of entities (e.g., out-groups, animals, plants, environments). Cross-sectional Studies 1a and 1b, found dispositional awe was related to greater moral expansiveness. Experimental Studies 2 and 3, using video-induced awe, found consistent indirect effects on moral expansiveness, via self-reported awe and the small-self sense of vastness. Experimental Study 4, using Virtual Reality induced awe, found those in the awe condition (vs. control) reported greater moral expansiveness, and this was fully mediated by the small-self sense of vastness. Our findings show awe expands our sense of connectedness to the broader world, and through this, increases the breath of our moral concern.

It's awe-fully unfamiliar: The effect of familiarity on awe within a virtual reality setting

Awe-inducing scenes are purported to involve vastness and a need for accommodation. Familiarity with a stimulus should reduce the need for accommodation, thereby reducing the intensity of awe experienced. The present study tested the effect of familiarity to a natural awe-inducing scene on the experience of awe. Forty undergraduate participants (N = 40) participated in a virtual reality experiment. Using a within-subjects design, participants viewed (in counterbalanced order) an awe-inducing nature scene that was either familiar or unfamiliar. The dependent measure was self-reported awe. Results confirmed that participants experienced diminished awe while viewing a familiar awe-inducing scene compared to viewing an unfamiliar awe-inducing scene.

Virtual Reality for Awe and Imagination

Empirical research has explored the potential of the emotion of awe to shape creativity, while theoretical work has sought to understand the link between this emotion and transformation in terms of imagining new possible worlds. This branch of study relies on the transformative potential of virtual reality (VR) to examine and invite cognitive and emotional components of transformative experiences (TEs) within the interdisciplinary model of Transformative Experience Design (TED) and the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF). TED suggests using the epistemic and emotional affordances of interactive technologies, such as VR, to invite TEs. The ATF can provide insight into the nature of these affordances and their relationship. This line of research draws on empirical evidence of the awe-creativity link to broaden the discourse and consider the potential impact of this emotion on core beliefs about the world. The combination of VR with these theoretical and design-oriented approaches may enable a new generation of potentially transformative experiences that remind people that they can aspire to more and inspire them to work toward imagining and creating a new possible world.

Global heart warming: kama muta evoked by climate change messages is associated with intentions to mitigate climate change

Concern about climate change is often rooted in sympathy, compassion, and care for nature, living beings, and future generations. Feeling sympathy for others temporarily forms a bond between them and us: we focus on what we have in common and feel a sense of common destiny. Thus, we temporarily experience communal sharing relationships. A sudden intensification in communal sharing evokes an emotion termed kama muta, which may be felt through tearing up, a warm feeling in the chest, or goosebumps. We conducted four pre-registered studies (n = 1,049) to test the relationship between kama muta and pro-environmental attitudes, intentions, and behavior. In each study, participants first reported their attitudes about climate change. Then, they received climate change-related messages. In Study 1, they saw one of the two moving video clips about environmental concerns. In Study 2, participants listened to a more or less moving version of a story about a typhoon in the Philippines. In Study 3, they listened to a different, also moving version of this story or an unrelated talk. In Study 4, they watched either a factual or a moving video about climate change. Participants then indicated their emotional responses. Finally, they indicated their intentions for climate mitigation actions. In addition, we measured time spent reading about climate-related information (Studies 1, 2, and 4) and donating money (Study 4). Across all studies, we found that feelings of kama muta correlated positively with pro-environmental intentions (r = 0.48 [0.34, 0.62]) and behavior (r = 0.10 [0.0004, 0.20]). However, we did not obtain evidence for an experimental effect of the type of message (moving or neutral) on pro-environmental intentions (d = 0.04 [-0.09, 0.18]), though this relationship was significantly mediated by felt kama muta across Studies 2-4. The relationship was not moderated by prior climate attitudes, which had a main effect on intentions. We also found an indirect effect of condition through kama muta on donation behavior. In sum, our results contribute to the question of whether kama muta evoked by climate-change messages can be a motivating force in efforts at climate-change mitigation.

Hostage negotiator resilience: A phenomenological study of awe

Law enforcement crisis and hostage negotiators (CHNs) are tasked with resolving incidents that are stressful, unpredictable, and often dangerous. These negotiators must work as a team and be able to successfully utilize a variety of skills in order to gain the subject's voluntary compliance and peaceful surrender. It is necessary for negotiators to continually practice these skills while also, and importantly, care for their own wellbeing. This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, when viewed as a resilience practice, can support law enforcement crisis hostage negotiators with their crisis work and personal wellness. Utilizing phenomenological methodologies, the findings demonstrate that reflecting on awe experiences had an overall positive impact on the negotiators in both their professional and personal lives. Based on the results, it is suggested that awe practices could be incorporated into future negotiator trainings in order to increase resilience and assist negotiators personally and professionally.

How Awe Shaped Us: An Evolutionary Perspective

Research shows the experience of awe is associated with a variety of benefits ranging from increased well-being and prosocial behavior to enhanced cognition. The adaptive purpose of awe, however, is elusive. In this article, we aim to show that the current framework used to conceptualize awe points towards higher-order cognition as the key adaptive function. This goes against past evolutionary positions that posit social benefits or unidimensional behavioral adaptations. In the second half of the article, we highlight a distinct cognitive advantage of awe. The literature connecting awe and cognition is surveyed and used to develop a view that situates awe as a critical component in the cognitive success of the human species.

The Impact of Mixed Emotions on Consumer Improvisation Behavior in the Environment of COVID-19: The Moderating Effect of Tightness-Looseness Culture

Organizations and individuals are unprepared for an unexpected outbreak of COVID-19. While most of the literature focuses on improvised reactions at the organizational level, this paper focuses on understanding improvised reactions at the individual level. This paper draws on previous research applying improvisation to the field of consumer behavior and introduces consumer knowledge acquisition as a mediating variable and tightness-looseness culture as a moderating variable from the perspective of mixed emotions of awe and anxiety to explain the mechanism of consumers with mixed emotions of awe and anxiety on improvisation behavior based on the environment of a COVID-19 outbreak. Data from 330 participants in Study 1 examined the effect of mixed emotions of awe and anxiety on improvisation behavior through knowledge acquisition, and data from 434 participants in Study 2 examined the moderating effect of relaxed culture. The findings suggest that consumers with mixed emotions report a higher willingness to acquire knowledge and report higher levels of improvisational behavior. Consumers behaved differently in different environments. Consumers with mixed emotions responded more strongly to improvisation in the loose-culture environment than in the tight-culture environment, and the mixed emotions of awe and anxiety had a positive effect on individual consumers' improvisational behavior through the mediating role of knowledge acquisition.

Going beyond ourselves: the role of self-transcendent experiences in wisdom

Having good moral character often involves shifting one's focus of attention from the self to others and the world. Across three studies (N  =  605 adults), we found converging evidence that self-transcendent experiences, specifically awe and flow, enabled the expression of wisdom, as captured by wise reasoning and epistemic humility measures. Study 1 found that dispositionally awe- and flow-prone people have stronger wise reasoning and epistemic humility abilities, over and above dispositional happiness. Consistent with Study 1, Study 2 found that, across diverse recalled experiences, individuals who experienced more awe showed greater wise reasoning, and those who experienced more flow showed greater epistemic humility. In Study 3, using situated interventions, we induced awe (watching a video involving vast nature scenes) and flow (composing a song using an online music maker) and compared them with neutral and amusement experiences. Compared to these control conditions, eliciting awe and flow facilitated one's (1) ability to address interpersonal conflicts with wise reasoning, (2) ability to acknowledge one's epistemic gaps, and (3) willingness to improve those aspects and one's general moral character. Altogether, these findings reveal the promising role of self-transcendent experiences in motivating people to appreciate others' perspectives beyond one's own.

Self-transcendent experiences as promoters of ecological wellbeing? Exploration of the evidence and hypotheses to be tested

In recent years, much has been written on the role of different mental states and their potential to influence our way of thinking and, perhaps more importantly, the way we act. With the recent acceleration of environmental and mental health issues, alongside the limited effectiveness of existing interventions, an exploration of new approaches to deliver transformative change is required. We therefore explore the emerging potential of a type of mental state known as self-transcendent experiences (STEs) as a driver of ecological wellbeing. We focus on four types of STEs: those facilitated by experiences of flow, awe, and mindfulness, as well as by psychedelic-induced experiences. Some of these experiences can occur naturally, through sometimes unexpected encounters with nature or during immersion in every-day activities that one intrinsically enjoys, as well as through more intentional practices such as meditation or the administration of psychedelics in controlled, legal settings. We explore the evidence base linking each of the four types of STE to ecological wellbeing before proposing potential hypotheses to be tested to understand why STEs can have such beneficial effects. We end by looking at the factors that might need to be considered if STEs are going to be practically implemented as a means of achieving ecological wellbeing.

Superordinate identities and self-transcendent emotions: Longitudinal study in Spain and Chile

Recent studies suggest that identification with all humanity (IWAH), apart from being related to universalistic values, could also be related to self-transcendent emotions (STE). In this scenario, the general objective of this cross-cultural longitudinal study is to examine the relationship between identification with proximate categories (i.e., community and country) and superordinate one (all humanity), and their association with positive self-oriented and STEs during a traumatic global phenomenon such as COVID-19 pandemics. Additionally, we explore variations regarding the patterns of those associations in different cultural contexts (Chile and Spain) and examine whether they change among two different time points (T1-T2). The total sample was composed of 403 participants, of whom 224 were residents in Chile (M = 39.25, SD = 12.56; range 18-71 years; 49.6% women) and 179 were residents in Spain (M = 36.35, SD = 12.12; range 18-68 years; 59.8% women). Data collection was carried out in September (T1) and November (T2) 2020, through online surveys administered via Survey Monkey® platform. Overall, results show, as expected, greater identification with proximate categories rather than superordinate ones, and an association between STEs and IWAH, but also with national and community identification. IWAH, but not STEs decreased significantly (T1-T2) in both countries. Thereafter, these emotional and behavioral responses decline as a symptom of growing fatigue with the pandemic situation, and also reflect a shift from broader to more local concerns. Analysis regarding comparisons between countries indicated higher levels of identification with community and with all humanity in Spain and with country in Chile. The results are discussed in the context of new developments in studies on IWAH.

Astronauts’ Sensemaking of Dangerous Beauty: An Account of the Overview Effect for Organizational Theory

In this article, I explore sensemaking processes associated with the overview effect—a cognitive shift experienced by astronauts who see Earth from space. Analysis of publicly available interviews ( n  = 51) with astronauts revealed a common sequence of sensemaking: First, astronauts reported experiencing speechlessness triggered by beauty and awe (a phenomenon I label, awe-mute). Second, during and after missions, most reported attempting to make sense of the experience with others, often resulting in a deepening of their previously-existing worldviews, a process I term sensedeepening. Third, sensedeepening often resulted in astronauts’ (a) admissions of inadequacy to give sense to their experience for others, and despite this, (b) development of messages to communicate their experiences, and (c) engagement in social activism. These patterns were corroborated by additional interviews with astronauts ( n  = 5) and an interview with a prolific interviewer of astronauts. Implications for sensemaking theory and organizational change conclude the article.

The relationship between trait awe and procrastination: A mediated model with moderation

The current study aims to examine the effect of trait awe on college students’ procrastination with a focus on confirming the mediating role of stress and the moderating role of future time perspective (FTP). Measures of procrastination, trait awe, stress, and future time perspective were completed by 512 Chinese college students. The results indicate that trait awe had a negative effect on procrastination, that stress was a significant mediator between trait awe and procrastination, and that FTP moderated the mediation effect. These findings not only demonstrate the crucial role of awe in alleviating procrastination but also elucidate the underlying mechanisms and relevant populations. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed.

Experimental elicitations of awe: a meta-analysis

A meta-analytic review of studies that experimentally elicited awe and compared the emotion to other conditions (84; 487 effects; 17,801 participants) examined the degree to which experimentally elicited awe (1) affects outcomes relative to other positive emotions (2) affects experience, judgment, behaviour, and physiology, and (3) differs in its effects if the awe state was elicited through positive or threatening contexts. The efficacy of methods that have been used to experimentally elicit awe and the possibility of assessing changes in the state of the self with experimental awe elicitations were also examined. Meta-analyses with robust variance estimation revealed that awe affected outcomes compared to other positive emotions and control conditions; affected experience, judgment, and behaviour; and had similar effects if elicited through positive or threatening contexts. The ability to compare awe to negative emotion states and its effects on physiology was limited by a small number of available effects. Images, videos, autobiographical recall, and naturalistic exposure were effective in eliciting awe. Exploratory analyses suggested that some processes involved in changes in the self can be related to experimental awe elicitations. These findings suggest awe is a discrete emotion and identifies areas for future investigation.

Humble with God? How Education and Race Shape the Association Between God-Mediated Control and Humility in Later Life

Background

In contrast to the vibrant interdisciplinary literature on other virtues, such as forgiveness and gratitude, the study of humility has developed more slowly. Over the 2 decades, there has been a proliferation of research on humility. In this study, we assess the interrelationship between a core feature of religious life, God-mediated control, and humility.

Purpose

We assess the interrelationship between God-mediated control (the belief that God is a collaborative partner working together with humans) and humility. We also assess how the relationship between God-mediated control and humility may be conditional on two sociodemographic characteristics among middle-aged and older adults, education and race.

Methods

Data for this study come from Wave 5 of the Religion, Aging, and Health Study (2013), a nationwide survey of Whites and African Americans (N = 1152). We test our hypotheses with a series of OLS regression models.

Results

We find that stronger perceptions of God-mediated control were associated with greater humility among older adults. Results from our moderation analyses also show that the relationship between God-mediated control and greater humility was stronger for low status groups, namely, the less educated and Black older adults.

Conclusion and Implications

The cognitive belief that God can be trusted as an intimate collaborator in the chaos of human life appears to predict humility among older adults, perhaps by acknowledging one's dependence on a superior being and appreciating the limits of human finitude and acknowledging God's greatness outside one's self. Devoid of secular resources, the less educated and Black Americans might find greater meaning and significance in their association with God and may feel no need to establish their own worth through the attainment of worldly accomplishments or knowledge. Given the centrality of humility to religious/spiritual life, we suggest how future interdisciplinary research can build on the findings of our study.

A review of psychological research on kando as an inclusive concept of moving experiences

We are emotionally moved when we give birth to a child, witness the triumph of an athlete, listen to a beautiful piece of music, and so forth. Such moving experiences have been described as a form of emotion, by terms such as being moved, awe, and kama muta, each of which have been studied as a separate, but interrelated, psychological phenomenon. Japanese people use the term kando to describe these experiences collectively. In this study, we propose that kando should be treated as an umbrella term covering being moved, awe, and kama muta. To this end, we reviewed the literature on kando conducted by Japanese researchers and compared it to relevant concepts, mainly examined in Western countries. We also reviewed the literature on the generative mechanism of kando, and established that emotional and physical reactions are important to determine the degree of kando across the cases with and without storyline. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as trait empathy may generate a stronger degree of kando. Kando experiences can affect subsequent behaviors and cognition, though we still need evidence that such change can be triggered genuinely by the experience of kando. We suggest that kando may make our neuro-cognitive network tend toward more direct, unconscious, and impulsive decision making. One of the remaining questions in this domain is whether the mental construct of kando can find an equivalent to people in Western countries. For this purpose, events and reactions relevant to kando experiences should be systematically collected from a broad population.