What Awe Does to Us
- The Editors at Very Cool Facts
- Aug 14
- 3 min read
When was the last time something made you stop and simply take it in?
Maybe it was an enormous night sky, a piece of music, a newborn baby, or learning something about the universe that was almost impossible to comprehend.
We know what awe feels like. What scientists are beginning to understand is what it does to us.
Research suggests that awe can shift our attention away from everyday concerns, strengthen our sense of connection to others, and change the way we perceive ourselves in relation to the world.
Psychologists call one of these effects the “small self.” When we encounter something that feels much larger than ourselves, our own concerns can temporarily occupy a little less space. We don't feel insignificant so much as part of a much bigger picture.
Researchers tested this idea with 60 adults ages 60 to 90. Participants took a 15-minute outdoor walk each week for eight weeks. Half were encouraged to actively seek out things that inspired awe.
Those taking the “awe walks” reported more positive emotions and less daily distress. But researchers noticed something else.
Participants took photographs of themselves during their walks. As the weeks passed, those in the awe group made themselves smaller in their photographs and included more of the world around them. Their smiles also became more intense.
Could Awe Affect the Body, Too?
Awe may even have a connection to physical health.
In one study, people who reported experiencing more awe had lower levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a protein involved in inflammation. Among the positive emotions researchers examined, awe was the strongest predictor of lower IL-6.
Scientists don't yet know what causes the association, but the finding raises an intriguing question about how our emotional experiences may be connected to what happens inside our bodies.
Where Can We Find More Awe?
We tend to associate awe with the spectacular: the Grand Canyon, a total solar eclipse, a sky filled with stars. But it can turn up in surprisingly ordinary places.
Look up and look closer. Watch the moon rise or a thunderstorm approach. Examine a spiderweb or the structure of a flower. Watch a bird build a nest.
Notice what people are capable of.
Extraordinary athletic or artistic skill can inspire awe, but so can an unexpected act of courage, generosity or kindness. In research spanning 26 countries, witnessing other people's extraordinary goodness, sometimes called “moral beauty,” was the most commonly reported source of awe.
Listen to music that gives you chills. Those goosebumps or shivers are sometimes called frisson, a physical response that can accompany intense emotion and awe.
Try the hauntingly beautiful Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, written for strings and harp. Mahler composed it while falling in love with Alma Schindler, whom he would soon marry. According to his friend, conductor Willem Mengelberg, Mahler sent Alma the music without an accompanying note as a wordless declaration of love.
She understood.
The love story behind Mahler’s Adagietto was only one chapter in Alma Mahler’s extraordinary romantic life. Her relationships involved some of the most celebrated composers, artists, architects and writers of her time, and at least one story that is almost too strange to believe. Find out what happened here.
Awe May Be Closer Than We Think
Awe may be less about finding extraordinary things than remembering to notice how extraordinary the world already is.
Want to bring a little more awe into your life? Check out UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, which offers research-based ways to cultivate it, including taking an Awe Walk.
Discover more at VeryCoolFacts.com.
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