Awe and the interconnected self

Abstract

Awe is a self-expansive emotion, where the boundaries of a separate self are transcended to process a larger, complex reality. The current review integrates the existing scholarship on awe including the benefits, individual differences, and neuroanatomical correlates of the emotion. We also identify the attentional antecedents to awe experiences, the states and traits that may support or create barriers to experiences of the emotion, and theoretically guided methods to allow the emotion to be accessible in day-to-day life. We argue that awe may promote prosocial instincts through the recognition of one’s place in a vast interconnected world and be particularly beneficial in this age of rapid technological progress and social unrest.

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