Awe motivates authentic-self pursuit via self-transcendence: Implications for prosociality.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology December 2, 2021 Tonglin Jiang, Constantine Sedikides 166 citations
Awe, an emotion experienced when encountering something vast and beyond one's current understanding, can prompt people to pursue their authentic selves. This pursuit of an authentic self was associated with higher general prosocial behavior, but lower inauthentic prosocial behavior, based on a sample of 868 participants. The findings suggest that awe's relationship with the self is complex and nuanced, inviting further examination.