‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption
<p class="p1">The experience of awe is typically elicited in response to perceptually vast stimuli and is often characterized by feeling small and insignificant. In the present series of studies we aimed (1) to determine the effects of awe on body perception and (2) to elucidate the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of California Press
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Collabra |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.collabra.org/articles/36 |
| _version_ | 1811268603471724544 |
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| author | Michiel van Elk Annika Karinen Eva Specker Eftychia Stamkou Matthijs Baas |
| author_facet | Michiel van Elk Annika Karinen Eva Specker Eftychia Stamkou Matthijs Baas |
| author_sort | Michiel van Elk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p class="p1">The experience of awe is typically elicited in response to perceptually vast stimuli and is often characterized by feeling small and insignificant. In the present series of studies we aimed (1) to determine the effects of awe on body perception and (2) to elucidate the role of the personality trait of ‘absorption’ (i.e. the tendency to get fully immersed in one’s experiences) in relation to the feeling of awe. Across 4 different studies, involving both lab-based and field experiments, we found that feelings of awe are associated with smaller body size estimates. We also found that absorption is a strong predictor of feelings of awe: people scoring high on absorption tended to report overall stronger feelings of awe – irrespective of the experimental manipulation. In addition, experimentally manipulating absorption, by instructing participants to get fully absorbed in an external stimulus resulted in stronger feelings of awe. Thereby these findings illustrate that two key features underlying the experience of awe are changes in the perception of one’s body and a tendency to get absorbed in internal or external stimuli. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:25:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-84edb754567f4cfcbe47ea7ad89117a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2376-6832 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:25:54Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | University of California Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Collabra |
| spelling | doaj.art-84edb754567f4cfcbe47ea7ad89117a02022-12-22T03:16:10ZengUniversity of California PressCollabra2376-68322016-03-012110.1525/collabra.368‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with AbsorptionMichiel van Elk0Annika Karinen1Eva Specker2Eftychia Stamkou3Matthijs Baas4University of Amsterdam: Department of Psychology and Amsterdam Brain and Cognition CenterUniversity of Amsterdam, Department of PsychologyUniversity of Amsterdam, Department of PsychologyUniversity of Amsterdam, Department of PsychologyUniversity of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology<p class="p1">The experience of awe is typically elicited in response to perceptually vast stimuli and is often characterized by feeling small and insignificant. In the present series of studies we aimed (1) to determine the effects of awe on body perception and (2) to elucidate the role of the personality trait of ‘absorption’ (i.e. the tendency to get fully immersed in one’s experiences) in relation to the feeling of awe. Across 4 different studies, involving both lab-based and field experiments, we found that feelings of awe are associated with smaller body size estimates. We also found that absorption is a strong predictor of feelings of awe: people scoring high on absorption tended to report overall stronger feelings of awe – irrespective of the experimental manipulation. In addition, experimentally manipulating absorption, by instructing participants to get fully absorbed in an external stimulus resulted in stronger feelings of awe. Thereby these findings illustrate that two key features underlying the experience of awe are changes in the perception of one’s body and a tendency to get absorbed in internal or external stimuli.http://www.collabra.org/articles/36awewonderabsorptionbody perceptiondispositional aweindividual differences |
| spellingShingle | Michiel van Elk Annika Karinen Eva Specker Eftychia Stamkou Matthijs Baas ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption Collabra awe wonder absorption body perception dispositional awe individual differences |
| title | ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption |
| title_full | ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption |
| title_fullStr | ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption |
| title_short | ‘Standing in Awe’: The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption |
| title_sort | standing in awe the effects of awe on body perception and the relation with absorption |
| topic | awe wonder absorption body perception dispositional awe individual differences |
| url | http://www.collabra.org/articles/36 |
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