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Category: Data

Description: Awe changes the way we relate to the world, fostering a smaller sense of self, and driving greater moral concern for other people (e.g., Piff et al., 2015). Building on these findings, we examined the extent to which awe expands our moral world, increasing and extending moral concern across a broad range of targets (e.g., distal humans, animals, plants, and environments). Specifically, across five studies (N = 990), we examined whether awe promoted greater moral expansiveness via fostering a smaller sense of self. Studies 1a & 1b revealed that those with a greater tendency to experience awe in their daily lives (trait awe) reported greater levels of moral expansiveness. Experiments 2 and 3 employed videos to induce awe, revealing an indirect effect on greater moral expansiveness via fostering a smaller sense of self (especially via feelings of vastness). Experiment 4 employed an immersive VR awe induction, finding those in the awe condition (vs. control) felt a stronger sense of moral expansiveness, and this was fully mediated by a smaller sense of self (especially by feelings of vastness). A mini meta-analysis of Experiments 2-4 found that, overall, those in the awe conditions were more morally expansive compared to controls. The results identify an emotional pathway which leads to greater moral expansiveness, thereby increasing a general sense of moral concern not only for humans, but also for animals and the environment.