Awe gets used loosely, somewhere between wonder and being impressed. The emotion literature describes something far more specific, with two components that both have to be present. A systematic review gathered 57 studies of awe and read them through a cognitive behavioral lens to build a model of how the emotion works. What are the two parts?
, and then a mental update. The review puts vastness at the center as the , the sense of meeting something that exceeds your usual frame. That appraisal activates a need for , meaning the mental model you were carrying has to be revised to fit what you just met. Triggers were mostly natural, and the outcomes included well-being, spiritual growth and .
Awe in ordinary use covers anything from a good sunset to a cathedral. The emotion literature is stricter, and this review assembled 57 studies to say how much stricter.
Vastness is the core appraisal. Something in the encounter exceeds the frame you brought to it, whether in size, in complexity, in moral scale or in sheer skill. That appraisal is the entry condition, and without it the rest never starts.
The second component is what separates awe from admiration. Vastness activates a need for cognitive accommodation, meaning the mental model you were carrying no longer fits and has to be rebuilt. A merely pleasant view makes no such demand, which is one reason a beautiful landscape can leave a person unmoved.
Triggers across the 57 studies were mostly natural, and the outcomes mostly good: higher well-being, spiritual growth, and pro-environmental intent, the reported willingness to act on behalf of the natural world. Treat the model itself with care, though. It was built out of the review rather than tested against new data, and the authors are explicit that the proposed pathways still need validating.
wat. Awe needs two things at once: something too big for your frame, and the frame actually giving way.
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It explains why a merely beautiful view often fails to produce awe. Without something that forces a revision of how you thought the world was arranged, the second component never fires.
How do we know?
Schaffer, Huckstepp and Kannis-Dymand searched a dozen databases, kept 57 peer-reviewed studies of awe, and used the findings to propose a cognitive behavioral model of it.
What is still unknown
The model is proposed, not tested. It was assembled from existing findings, and the authors say outright that the pathways and the usefulness of the model still need validating.
Learn something?
Where to next
Why do we feel small in front of an enormous view?awe
Does an enormous waterfall make you more generous?awe
What does a minute in front of a breathtaking landscape do to a person?awe