More Benefits of Feeling Awed

We can be awed by design in a variety of ways, for example, via exquisite workmanship or use of unique or special materials.

Prade and Saraglou share that “Given that awe experiences promote collective identity and decrease self-importance, we reasoned that they should lead individuals to be more prone to cherish social conformity value and to adopt conformity behaviors. In two online experiments . . . compared to neutral and amusement emotional states, awe was found to drive individuals to value the respect of social norms in a greater extent (Experiment 1), and to lead individuals to conform to the majority opinion on an evaluative judgment task (Experiment 2).”

The Stamkou-lead team reports that during their study “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.”

Claire Prade and Vassilis Saraglou.  “Awe and Social Conformity:  Awe Promotes the Endorsement of Social Norms and Conformity to the Majority Opinion.” Emotion, in press, DOI: 10.1037/emo0001225

Eftychia Stamkou, Eddie Brummelman, Rohan Dunham, Milica Nikolic, and Dacher Keltner.  “Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children.”  Psychological Science, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221150616