The buffering effect of awe on negative affect towards lost possessions

Experiences of Awe and Gratitude and Related Triggers Among Religious Brothers and Sisters: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in Germany

A cross-sectional survey among religious brothers and sisters (n = 250) with their specific lifestyle and related spiritual practices stated moments of awe perceptions. They responded to both the Awe/Gratitude scale and to free text fields to substantiate their quantitative responses. Qualitative content analysis of their free text responses resulted in six main categories of awe triggers: (1) Nature, (2) Special Moments, (3) Transcendence Perceptions, (4) Religious practices, (5) Distinct People, and (6) Aesthetics, Art and Culture. Awe perceptions can be an immediate feeling and the outcome of a process of reflection in response to admiration, inspiration, and elevation. As these perceptions are related to psychological well-being and prosocial behaviors, their training can generate positive effects on quality of life.

The Relationship Between Dispositional Awe and Reactive Aggression: The Serial Mediation Role of Trait Anger and Self-Control

Previous research has shown that state awe will decrease aggressive behavior in individuals and reduce implicit trait aggression. However, hardly any studies have been conducted to show the relationship between individual dispositional awe and reactive aggression as well as the underlying psychological mechanisms. Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion and the expanded model of awe, this study explored the effects of trait anger and self-control on the relationship between dispositional awe predicting reactive aggression. The trait anger, self-control, dispositional awe, and reactive aggression scales were completed by a total of 611 college students who were recruited from universities. The findings demonstrated a negative correlation between dispositional awe and reactive aggression (r = -.35, p < .01). The link between dispositional awe and reactive aggression is mediated by trait anger (β = -.201, 95% CI [-.25, -.15]) and self-control (β = -.038, 95% CI [-.07, -.01]). Additionally, a serial mediation effect of trait anger and self-control was observed between dispositional awe and reactive aggression (β = -.022, 95% CI [-.04, -.01]). This study reveals the relationship between dispositional awe and reactive aggression and its mechanism of effect which has some practical implications for the prevention and reduction of reactive aggression among college students.

Hostage negotiator resilience: A phenomenological study of awe

Law enforcement crisis and hostage negotiators (CHNs) are tasked with resolving incidents that are stressful, unpredictable, and often dangerous. These negotiators must work as a team and be able to successfully utilize a variety of skills in order to gain the subject's voluntary compliance and peaceful surrender. It is necessary for negotiators to continually practice these skills while also, and importantly, care for their own wellbeing. This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, when viewed as a resilience practice, can support law enforcement crisis hostage negotiators with their crisis work and personal wellness. Utilizing phenomenological methodologies, the findings demonstrate that reflecting on awe experiences had an overall positive impact on the negotiators in both their professional and personal lives. Based on the results, it is suggested that awe practices could be incorporated into future negotiator trainings in order to increase resilience and assist negotiators personally and professionally.

Experience of nature and times of silence as a resource to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and their effects on psychological wellbeing-Findings from a continuous cross-sectional survey in Germany

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns affected social relations and mental health conditions of people worldwide. We aimed to analyze the relevance of nature and times of silence as resources to cope with the pandemic. Of interest were how experiences of nature and times of silence are related to the perception of wondering awe and gratitude and psychological wellbeing and how these have changed during the different phases of the pandemic. Finally, we asked whether Nature/Silence would mediate the link between Awe/Gratitude and wellbeing.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey with standardized questionnaires (i.e., PCQ, GrAw-7, BMLSS-10, WHO-5) enrolling participants during the different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. The total sample of 5,155 participants from Germany consisted of 65% women and 34% men, with a mean age of 45.0 ± 14.0 years.

Results

Directly after the first lockdown, Nature/Silence and Awe/Gratitude scores were high and decreased along with wellbeing with the onset of the second lockdown in winter 2020, while perceived burden constantly increased. Nature/Silence was rated lowest by people with reduced wellbeing (eta2 = 0.058) and feeling lonely or socially isolated (eta2 = 0.042). Predictor analyses revealed that wellbeing as a dependent variable was predicted best by corona-related perception of burden, Awe/Gratitude, reflection of life, and Nature/Silence and further by perceived changes in terms of relationships and spirituality (R2 = 0.55). In mediation analyses, Awe/Gratitude proved to be a significant predictor for Nature/Silence (β = 0.55, p< 0.0001) and wellbeing (β = 0.05, p < 0.0001). The mediation analysis explained 37% of the variability in the data. The direct influence of Awe/Gratitude on wellbeing was estimated as β = 0.09 (p < 0.0001), and the mediation effect of Nature/Silence on the link between Awe/Gratitude and wellbeing was significant, too (β = 0.03, p < 0.0001), explaining 25% of the total effect.

Conclusion

Nature/Silence and Awe/Gratitude were used as relevant resources during the pandemic, although they cannot fully buffer the negative effects of the social restrictions that resulted in decreases in wellbeing and increases in perceived burden. Perception of nature as a sensitizer of positive experiences particularly during difficult phases of life could be trained to stabilize wellbeing and thus to contribute to public health.

Experimental elicitations of awe: a meta-analysis

A meta-analytic review of studies that experimentally elicited awe and compared the emotion to other conditions (84; 487 effects; 17,801 participants) examined the degree to which experimentally elicited awe (1) affects outcomes relative to other positive emotions (2) affects experience, judgment, behaviour, and physiology, and (3) differs in its effects if the awe state was elicited through positive or threatening contexts. The efficacy of methods that have been used to experimentally elicit awe and the possibility of assessing changes in the state of the self with experimental awe elicitations were also examined. Meta-analyses with robust variance estimation revealed that awe affected outcomes compared to other positive emotions and control conditions; affected experience, judgment, and behaviour; and had similar effects if elicited through positive or threatening contexts. The ability to compare awe to negative emotion states and its effects on physiology was limited by a small number of available effects. Images, videos, autobiographical recall, and naturalistic exposure were effective in eliciting awe. Exploratory analyses suggested that some processes involved in changes in the self can be related to experimental awe elicitations. These findings suggest awe is a discrete emotion and identifies areas for future investigation.

Understanding awe elicitors in the workplace: a qualitative inquiry

Purpose

Despite its practical importance, the emotion of awe has received scant research attention in the organizational literature. To facilitate future scholarship on this important topic, the authors explore and compare the elicitors of awe at work in three countries representing two culture clusters, including the USA and Canada (the Anglo cluster) and China (the Confucian Asia cluster).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors gathered responses from 163 working adults from the USA and Canada and 126 working adults from China using open-response survey, and analyzed each response following the guidance of grounded theory.

Findings

Across cultures, there are 10 common elicitors of awe, including virtue of organization, ability and achievement of organization, beauty of workplace, virtue of colleagues, ability and achievement of colleagues, dedication of colleagues, charisma of colleagues, status and power of colleagues, personal growth and achievement and perceived meaningfulness. Looking within cultures, the authors found two awe elicitors that are specific to China: status and power of organization, and work content.

Practical implications

Organizations and supervisors wishing to induce the emotion of awe would be well-advised to pay attention to the design of their workplace, as well as their attitudes and behaviors toward employees, customers and the general public.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the emotion literature, organizational literature and cross-cultural literature by demonstrating elicitors of awe in the workplace across the Anglo cluster and the Confucian Asia cluster.

Wondering Awe as a Perceptive Aspect of Spirituality and Its Relation to Indicators of Wellbeing: Frequency of Perception and Underlying Triggers

Background: Spirituality is a multidimensional construct which includes religious, existentialistic, and relational issues and has different layers such as faith as the core, related attitudes and conviction, and subsequent behaviors and practices. The perceptive aspects of spirituality such as wondering awe are of relevance for both, religious and non-religious persons. These perceptions were related to perceiving the Sacred in life, mindful awareness of nature, others and self, to compassion, meaning in life, and emotional wellbeing. As awe perceptions are foremost a matter of state, it was the aim (1) to empirically analyze the frequency of wondering awe perceptions (i.e., with respect to gender, age cohorts, religious or non-religious persons) and (2) to qualitatively analyze a range of triggers of awe perceptions.

Methods: Data from 7,928 participants were analyzed with respect to the frequency of Awe/Gratitude perceptions (GrAw-7 scale), while for the second part of the study responses of a heterogeneous group of 82 persons what caused them to perceive moments of wondering awe were analyzed with qualitative content analysis techniques.

Results: Persons who experience Awe/Gratitude to a low extend were the youngest and had lowest wellbeing and lowest meditation/praying engagement, while those with high GrAw-7 scores were the oldest, had the highest wellbeing, and were more often meditating or praying (p<0.001). Gender had a significant effect on these perceptions, too (Cohen’s d=0.32). In the qualitative part, the triggers can be attributed to four main categories, Nature, Persons, Unique Moments, and Aesthetics, Beauty, and Devotion. Some of these triggers and related perceptions might be more a matter of admiration than wondering awe, while other perceptions could have more profound effects and may thus result in changes of a person’s attitudes and behaviors.

Conclusion: Emotionally touching experiences of wondering awe may result in feelings of interconnectedness, prosocial behavior, mindful awareness, and contribute to a person’s meaning in life and wellbeing and can also be a health-relevant resource. These perceptions can be seen as a perceptive aspect of spirituality, which is not exclusively experienced by religious people but also by non-religious persons.

Effects of Ethnicity and Spiritual Intelligence in the Relationship Between Awe and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Primary School Teachers

Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study explored the mediating effect of spiritual intelligence between awe and life satisfaction among Chinese primary school teachers and whether this effect was moderated by ethnicity. Participants comprised 569 teachers from 24 primary schools in southwestern China, where many of the ethnic minority groups of China reside. Awe and spiritual intelligence were found to positively predict life satisfaction among primary school teachers, while awe also indirectly influenced life satisfaction through the partial mediation of spiritual intelligence. Ethnicity was also found to moderate the relation between awe and life satisfaction, i.e., when compared with the Han teachers, there is a more significant and positive relation between awe and life satisfaction in ethnic minority teachers. These findings not only indicate the critical role of awe in promoting life satisfaction of primary school teachers but also especially show that awe embodied in the traditional cultural activities makes it easier to breed life satisfaction in ethnic minority teachers.

The Potential Role of Awe for Depression: Reassembling the Puzzle

Recently, interest in the unique pathways linking discrete positive emotions to specific health outcomes has gained increasing attention, but the role of awe is yet to be elucidated. Awe is a complex and transformative emotion that can restructure individuals' mental frames so deeply that it could be considered a therapeutic asset for major mental health major issues, including depression. Despite sparse evidence showing a potential connection between depression and awe, this link has not been combined into a proposal resulting in specific intervention guidelines. The aim of this perspective was three-fold: (i) to provide a new unifying model of awe's functioning-the Matryoshka model; (ii) to show systematic and explicit connections between this emotion and depression; and (iii) to suggest specific guidelines of intervention utilizing the potential therapeutic role of awe for mental health, specifically for depression. This theoretical endeavor in its entirety has been framed within the health domain.

Awe/Gratitude as an Experiential Aspect of Spirituality and Its Association to Perceived Positive Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of almost all people worldwide, many people observed also positive changes in their attitudes and behaviors. This can be seen in the context of posttraumatic growth. These perceived changes refer to five main categories: Nature/Silence/Contemplation, Spirituality, Relationships, Reflection on life, and Digital media usage. A previous study with persons recruited in June 2020 directly after the lockdown in Germany showed that the best predictors of these perceived changes related to the Corona pandemic were the ability to mindfully stop and pause in distinct situations, to be "spellbound at the moment" and to become "quiet and devout," indicating moments of wondering awe, with subsequent feelings of gratitude. Now, we intended to analyze (1) by whom and how strongly awe/gratitude was experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) how these feelings relate to perceived changes and experienced burden, and (3) whether or not feelings of awe/gratitude contribute to participants' well-being or may buffer perceived burden in terms of a resilience factor. Methods: Online survey with standardized questionnaires [i.e., WHO-Five Well-being Index (WHO5), Life satisfaction (BMLSS), Awe/Gratitude scale (GrAw-7), and Perceived Changes Questionnaire (PCQ)] among 2,573 participants (68% women; mean age 48.7 ± 14.2 years, 74% with a Christian affiliation) from Germany recruited between June and November 2020. Results: Awe/Gratitude scored significantly higher particularly among women (Cohen's d = 0.40), older persons (d = 0.88), persons who rely on their faith as a "stronghold in difficult times" (d = 0.99), those with higher well-being (d = 0.70), and lower perceptions of loneliness (d = 0.49). With respect to perceived changes during the pandemic, more intense feelings of Awe/Gratitude were particularly related to Nature/Silence/Contemplation (r = 0.41), Spirituality (r = 0.41), and Relationships (r = 0.33). Regression analyses revealed that the best predictors of Awe/Gratitude (R ² = 0.40) were the frequency of meditation, female gender, life satisfaction and well-being, faith as a stronghold, and perceived burden and also life reflection, while Nature/Silence/Contemplation and Relationships had a further, but weaker, impact on Awe/Gratitude as a dependent variable. Awe/Gratitude was moderately associated with well-being (r = 0.32) and would predict 9% of participants' well-being variance. The best predictors of participants' well-being were multidimensional life satisfaction and low perceived burden (related to the pandemic), and further Awe/Gratitude and Nature/Silence/Contemplation; these would explain 47% of variance in well-being scores. However, Awe/Gratitude cannot be regarded as a buffer of the negative aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is only marginally (though negatively) related to perceived burden (r = -0.15). Mediation analysis showed that Awe/Gratitude mediates 42% of the link between well-being as a predictor on Nature/Silence/Contemplation as an outcome and has a direct effect of β = 0.15 (p < 0.001) and an indirect effect of β = 0.11 (p < 0.001). Further, Awe/Gratitude mediates 38% (p < 0.001) of the link between Nature/Silence/Contemplation as a predictor on well-being as the outcome; the direct effect is β = 0.18 (p < 0.001), and the indirect effect is β = 0.11 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The general ability to experience Awe/Gratitude particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic may sensitize to perceive the world around (including nature and concrete persons) more intensely, probably in terms of, or similar to, posttraumatic growth. As this awareness toward specific moments and situations that deeply "touch" a person was higher in persons with more intense meditation or prayer practice, one may assume that these practices may facilitate these perceptions in terms of a training. However, the experience of Awe/Gratitude does not necessarily buffer against adverse events in life and cannot prevent perceived burden due to the corona pandemic, but it facilitates to, nevertheless, perceive positive aspects of life even within difficult times. As Awe/Gratitude is further mediating the effects of Nature/Silence/Contemplation on well-being, intervention programs could help to train these perceptions, as these self-transcendent feelings are also related to prosocial behaviors with respectful treatment of others and commitment to persons in needs, and well-being.