Music is awesome: Influences of emotion,personality, and preference on experienced awe

Awe is a complex, cognitive–conceptual emotion associated with transcendence and wonder. Music has the power to create this kind of transcendence. Can music evoke awe? Previous research demonstrates that awe is associated with individual differences in personality such as openness. This study examined whether different kinds of music across a wide variety of genres can evoke awe and whether the experience of awe depends on individual differences. The study further investigated the relationship of awe to patterns of emotional responses to different dimensions of musical genre. Study 1 demonstrated that high need for cognition and low cognitive closure predicted awe for reflective and complex music, that felt happiness predicted awe for all kinds of music, and that perceived happiness and sadness predicted awe only for reflective and complex music. Study 2 replicated the finding that perceived sadness can evoke awe in reflective and complex music and further demonstrated that experienced musical awe correlates with individual differences in the tendency to experience awe more generally. These results are of interest to advertisers interested in evoking awe with music and marketers interested in segmenting to target the appropriate populations for this purpose.     

Awe and meaning: Elucidating complex effects of awe experiences on meaning in life

Research on the experience of awe suggests that awe has positive impacts on outcomes like life satisfaction and belongingness. No published work, however, has reported effects of awe on the experience of meaning in life. We reasoned that awe might have complicated effects on meaning. On the one hand, many awe experiences likely contain a positive flavor that contributes to both awe and general positive affectivity (happiness). Positive affectivity has a robust positive effect on meaning in life, suggesting that positive awe experiences might increase meaning. At the same time, however, awe experiences lead to a diminished self that reflects feelings of smallness and insignificance, which might negatively predict meaning. We thus hypothesized that awe experiences can, in some contexts, produce competing indirect effects on judgments of meaning in life through happiness and small-self feelings. The results of five studies (N = 1,690) supported these predictions.     

The buffering effect of awe on negative affect towards lost possessions*

Abstract

Although the positive emotion of awe is of growing interest, past research has not directly examined its buffering effect in negative circumstances. As awe has been theoretically linked to experiences of vastness and spirituality, the present study proposes that awe helps individuals alleviate their negative affect, in the context of possession loss. Study 1 manipulated awe and examined participants’ responses in an imagined situation in which they lost a cherished possession. Study 2 manipulated awe and happiness and compared their effects on participants’ response to an actual loss in the form of points obtained and deducted during a laboratory task. In Study 3, daily experiences of awe, other positive emotions, and affect in response to actual loss, were measured using event sampling. In all studies, awe predicted lower negative affect towards loss of possessions. Implications of the function of awe in coping with loss and other future directions are discussed.     

敬畏的心理模型及其认知神经机制

敬畏是由神秘、浩大且超出当前认知图式事物引发的复杂情绪体验, 具有自我超越性。敬畏的心理学研究近期受到极大的关注, 但敬畏的本质或心理机制是什么等问题还不清楚。针对“敬畏的心理过程是什么”这一科学问题, 我们通过文献综述, 在厘清敬畏的概念演变、相关理论发展和实证研究基础上拟提出敬畏的心理模型, 尝试阐述敬畏的心理过程及其认知神经机制。我们认为敬畏心理涉及预期评估、结果评价和自我超越等认知过程, 并且包含浩大感、顺应需求两大核心特征, 以及内部与外部、积极与消极两大主要维度。未来亟需在敬畏测量工具的研发、敬畏相关理论的验证及不同文化群体间敬畏行为的比较分析等方面进行多学科的基础和应用研究。     

Effects of awe on consumer preferences for healthy versus unhealthy food products

This research investigates how a discrete positive emotion (awe) impacts consumers' decisions on food choices. We probe and demonstrate that the experience of awe enhances consumer preferences for healthy versus unhealthy products. In a series of three studies, we find that awe, compared with a neutral emotion, increases consumers' likelihood to choose healthy products over unhealthy products (Study 1). Consumers' processing styles drive the observed awe effect (Study 2), whereby awe increases reliance on analytic processing, which leads to preferences for healthy products. Moreover, the experience of awe exerts a stronger influence on product choices among consumers with a chronic intuitive rather than analytic processing style (Study 3). Theoretical contributions to the research on awe, information processing, and healthy food preference, as well as practical implications for consumers and marketers, are discussed.     

Exploring the social aspects of goose bumps and their role in awe and envy

Both awe and envy are emotions that can result from observing a powerful other, but awe should stabilize social hierarchies while envy should undermine them. Three studies explored how the physiological reaction of goose bumps might help in understanding these distinctive reactions to powerful others, as goose bumps should be associated with awe rather than envy. In Study 1, participants kept a four-week journal and made a detailed entry each time they experienced goose bumps. Goose bumps resulting from the emotion of awe were the second most frequently occurring type after reactions to cold. Consistent with understanding awe as an emotional reaction to powerful or superior others (Keltner and Haidt in Cogn Emot 17:297?C314, 2003), many of these experiences had social triggers. In Study 2, accounts of goose bumps resulting from exposure to powerful or superior others contained greater awe than envy. Also, the intensity of goose bumps was positively correlated with awe and negatively correlated with envy. In Study 3, accounts of awe contained more goose bumps than accounts of envy, and goose bumps were positively correlated with awe.     

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

Awe has been defined as an emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that overwhelm current mental structures, yet facilitate attempts at accommodation. Four studies are presented showing the information-focused nature of awe elicitors, documenting the self-diminishing effects of awe experience, and exploring the effects of awe on the content of the self-concept. Study 1 documented the information-focused, asocial nature of awe elicitors in participant narratives. Study 2 contrasted the stimulus-focused, self-diminishing nature of appraisals and feelings associated with a prototypical awe experience with the self-focused appraisals and feelings associated with pride. Study 3 found that dispositional awe-proneness, but not dispositional joy or pride, was associated with low Need for Cognitive Closure, and also documented a relationship between dispositional awe and increased emphasis on membership in “universal” categories in participants’ self-concepts. Study 4 replicated the self-concept finding from Study 3 using experimentally elicited awe. Implications for future work on awe are discussed.     

敬畏生命是智慧的开端

敬畏是对万物尊严的直观,是对超然性的辨识。犹太-基督教认为,智慧由敬畏推动,敬畏是信仰的前提,是信仰的根源。人们应当接受敬畏的指导。丧失敬畏,就会缺少洞察力。科学主义是失去敬畏的结果。学术界最近对科学主义的讨论,说明人文精神开始崛起。科学主义大概是一种国产货。我们今天应当在世界大家庭的语境中说话或言说。敬畏自然与敬畏生命,二者同中有异。但是,我们所说的敬畏自然,一点也不意味着自然主义。我们反对科学技术的僭越。自然主义恰恰忽视不同于单纯物质的生命。国内学者已经普遍注意到人类道德的关怀应当扩大到人类之外的存在上。     

Therapists’ perspectives about working with meaning in life in psychotherapy: A survey

Of 212 practicing therapists who completed a survey about working with meaning in life (MIL) in psychotherapy, 129 (61%) had recently worked with MIL with at least one client and reported on their work with a client in this survey. Those therapists who had worked with a client on MIL as compared with those who had not were older, more experienced, more humanistic/existential/experiential in orientation; reported more MIL training; and felt more competent working with MIL. Clients reported on primarily had internalizing, interpersonal, and career issues. Only 12% of clients explicitly labeled MIL as an issue coming into therapy. The three most frequently used interventions involved offering support; helping clients examine thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to discover hopes and goals; and facilitating exploration of MIL cognitions and experiences. Therapists reported many positive consequences from working with MIL. Therapists reported minimal training in MIL and moderate competence in working with MIL. Implications for practice, training, and research are presented.     

Approaching awe,a moral,spiritual, and aesthetic emotion

In this paper we present a prototype approach to awe. We suggest that two appraisals are central and are present in all clear cases of awe: perceived vastness, and a need for accommodation, defined as an inability to assimilate an experience into current mental structures. Five additional appraisals account for variation in the hedonic tone of awe experiences: threat, beauty, exceptional ability, virtue, and the supernatural. We derive this perspective from a review of what has been written about awe in religion, philosophy, sociology, and psychology, and then we apply this perspective to an analysis of awe and related states such as admiration, elevation, and the epiphanic experience.     

Awe or horror: differentiating two emotional responses to schema incongruence

ABSTRACT

Experiences that contradict one's core concepts (e.g. of the world, people, the self) elicit intense emotions. Such schema incongruence can elicit awe, wherein experiences that are too vast to understand with existing cognitive schemata cause one to feel that schemata should be updated [i.e. a “need for cognitive accommodation” (NFA); Keltner & Haidt, 2003. Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 17(3), 297–314]. However, other emotional responses to schema incongruence, such as horror, have not been investigated. The current studies compared awe and horror to investigate if they are distinct emotional responses to schema incongruence. Study 1 observed significant differences between awe and horror in cognitive appraisals (e.g. certainty, legitimacy), indicating several areas of dissimilarity. Study 2 found evidence that awe and horror are both responses to schema incongruence, as schema incongruence and NFA were salient in awe and horror, but not a contrast emotion. However, awe and horror were elicited by different types of schema incongruence: awe by spiritual vastness, horror by extremity. Awe-eliciting experiences also appeared to be easier to assimilate than horrifying experiences, as NFA and uncertainty were significantly lower in awe than in horror. Differences in the functions of horror and awe are also discussed.     

敬畏对亲环境行为意向的影响

采用回忆书写、视频和阅读书写范式启动敬畏,考察了敬畏与亲环境行为意向的关系。结果显示,相较于中性控制组,敬畏情绪回忆书写组（实验1）、视频启动组（实验2）和阅读书写组（实验3）的亲环境行为意向更高。结果表明,敬畏有助于促进个体的亲环境行为意向。     

Judgments of Meaning in Life,Religious Beliefs,and the Experience of Cognitive (Dis)Fluency

The primary aim of the current studies was to test whether religiousness interacted with self‐reported levels of meaning in life (MIL) to predict the ease or difficulty in judging one's MIL, the search for meaning itself, and religious doubt. Undergraduate students in Study 1 (N = 111) and adult participants recruited online in Study 2 (N = 206) completed measures of religious beliefs, MIL, cognitive fluency related to MIL, and related variables. Study 3 merged these data sets. In Study 4 (N = 255), online participants completed measures of religious beliefs, cognitive fluency related to religious beliefs, and MIL. Studies 1 and 2 showed that highly religious people with lower MIL reported greater difficulty making their MIL judgments than other people. Study 3 showed that they were also more likely to search for MIL and that disfluency mediated this effect. Study 4 demonstrated that they also reported more difficult judgments of religious beliefs and more religious doubts than their religious peers with high MIL. The current studies demonstrate that the experience of ease or difficulty associated with MIL judgments represents an important yet largely unexamined aspect of MIL. Our findings have implications for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying responses to meaning threats.     

敬畏对跨期选择的影响：时间洞察力和时距敏感度的作用

本研究考察了情绪(敬畏、愉悦和中性)对跨期选择的影响机制,以及时距敏感度和时间洞察力在其中的作用。结果显示：(1)相比中性,敬畏情绪下个体的折扣率更大;(2)相比中性,敬畏情绪下折扣率降幅更大;(3)对于未来取向者,敬畏情绪下折扣率比中性条件下更大;(4)对于现在取向者,敬畏情绪下折扣率降幅比中性条件下更大。结果表明,敬畏情绪通过未来时距的敏感度影响跨期选择偏好,使个体更加偏好延迟奖赏,同时,个体的时间取向在其中起调节作用。     

Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life

Six studies examined the role of positive affect (PA) in the experience of meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 showed strong relations between measures of mood, goal appraisals, and MIL. In multivariate analyses, PA was a stronger predictor of MIL than goal appraisals. In Study 2, the most consistent predictor of the experience of meaning in a day was the PA experienced that day. Later, global MIL was predicted by average daily PA, rather than average daily MIL. Study 3 demonstrated no prospective relations between measures of MIL and PA over 2 years. In Study 4, priming positive mood concepts enhanced MIL. In Study 5, manipulated positive mood enhanced ratings of MIL for those who were not given an attributional cue for their moods. In Study 6, PA was associated with a high level of distinction between meaningful and meaningless activities. Results indicate that positive moods may predispose individuals to feel that life is meaningful. In addition, positive moods may increase sensitivity to the meaning-relevance of a situation.     

The promotional role of meaning in life in future-oriented coping: Positive affect as a mediator

The present study examined the role of meaning in life (MIL) in predicting positive affect and future-oriented coping, and whether positive affect mediated the relationship between MIL and future-oriented coping. The participants were 68 Chinese university students who were randomly assigned to two conditions: a MIL priming condition and a control condition. Positive affect was measured before and after the manipulation. MIL, positive affect and future-oriented coping were assessed at 1-week follow-up. The results showed that the level of positive affect increased after the manipulation in the MIL priming condition. Fifty-five of the participants completed the follow-up survey, and results showed that the MIL priming condition exhibited higher levels of future-oriented coping at follow-up compared to the control condition. Mediation analyses confirmed that MIL promoted proactive coping via positive affect. This study provides empirical support for the promotional role of MIL in future-oriented coping and clarifies the mechanism via the mediating effect of positive affect.     

儒家敬畏的核心文化心理特征及其内在理路

儒家围绕敬畏的心理机制、对象、涵育和效用构建了敬畏的理论体系。敬畏是主体在自觉体认崇高价值时所持守的旨在自我超越的既崇敬又谨畏的理性化道德情感; 儒家以内在的道德本心作为敬畏的本根,并将其落实为道德实践中对人伦、自然、生命、职事和人文等的外在崇高价值的敬畏; 儒家敬畏涵育围绕心理动力、内在涵养、外在范导和积习沉淀系统展开,可谓环环相扣、层层递进; 敬畏作为进德修业之基不仅不会戕害自由、尊严与创造,反而是达至无入而不自得的洒落境界的必由之路。     

特质敬畏对亲社会倾向的正向预测：自我超越和共情的多重中介作用

敬畏对内能影响个体的精神世界,实现自我超越,对外能使个体更多地关注他人;且自我超越也能促进个体对他人的共情关注。但目前还未有实证研究探讨敬畏是否能通过共情以及自我超越-共情的中介预测亲社会倾向。为检验这一假设,本研究招募了1347名大学生并测量了其敬畏特质、自我超越、共情和亲社会倾向。结果显示：（1）敬畏、自我超越、共情和亲社会倾向各维度两两相关显著;（2）敬畏直接预测亲社会倾向各维度,也能通过自我超越和共情的多重中介间接预测,且自我超越的中介效应最大。本研究从内、外因素进一步深化了对敬畏与亲社会倾向关系的认识,频繁的敬畏体验有助于提升个体的自我超越及对他人的共情关注,促进亲社会倾向。     

论“敬畏自然”的正当性

"敬畏自然"是人类对自然及其规律产生的一种包含着各种心理成分在内的、复杂的、形上的终极体验。当代人类社会需要"敬畏自然"。"敬畏自然"的正当性可以从定义澄清、科学祛魅、道德养成三个层面加以证明。科学认知、哲学反思和审美体验是当代人获得"敬畏自然"体验的三种主要途径。倡导"敬畏自然"有助于环境道德水平的提升,推动环保事业的发展。