Positive Emotions and Self-Transcendence

This chapter examines how positive emotional states, self-transcendence, spirituality, and religion are interconnected. It is divided into three parts. The first part explores how positive emotions dissolve rigid boundaries between the self and the outer world at intra- and inter-individual levels. The second part examines positive emotions at a collective level through rituals, focusing on movement synchronization and music in social and religious contexts that spread positive emotions and enhance rapport. The third part investigates the role of positive emotions in religion and spirituality, proposing a family of self-transcendent positive emotions and presenting research on both directions of causality—positive emotions as consequences and as possible antecedents of religion and spirituality.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter intends to examine existing relationships between positive emotional states, self-transcendence, spirituality, and religion. It will be divided into three parts. The fi rst two parts will document proper conditions to dissolve rigid boundaries between the self and the outer world, and thus to favor the emergence of self-transcendence. The fi rst part will focus on the effect of positive emotional states at an intra-and an inter-individual level. The second part will examine positive emotions at a collective level through the study of rituals. In particular, we will scrutinize human practices such as movement synchronization and music often observed in social and religious rituals and known to spread positive emotions and enhance feelings of rapport. In the third part, we will examine the role of positive emotions in religion/spirituality, as it is a manner in which people, throughout history and across many societies, have been expressing their aspirations toward self-transcendence. In this regard, a rationale for taking into account the properties of specifi c positive emotions will be proposed and a family of positive emotions called self-transcendent will be at the center of our attention. Research concerning both directions of causality, i.e., positive emotions as consequences and as possible antecedents of religion and spirituality, will be presented.