THE EFFECT OF AWE ON INTERPRETATIONS OF AMBIGUOUS STIMULI

The theoretical conceptualization of awe, in addition to preliminary research, suggests
that awe may facilitate the intake and integration of new information and impact the way we use
our existing knowledge structures. The aim of this study was to explore the potential effect of an
awe induction on interpretations of ambiguous stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to a
prompt designed to induce either awe, amusement or a neutral emotion. Following the
induction, participants completed a judgement task in which they were shown neutral faces and
asked to judge the emotional valence of the face. After, participants read a series of ambiguous
scenarios and were asked to report how pleasant they imagined the situation to be. Finally,
participants completed a free-choice recognition task in which they were shown previously seen
and unseen faces. It was hypothesized that 1) those in the awe condition would spend more time
viewing neutral faces before making interpretations; 2) those in the awe condition would make
more “unclear” judgments of the emotional valence of neutral faces; 3) those in the awe
condition would demonstrate higher discriminability in the recognition task. It was also
hypothesized that awe would attenuate more negative interpretations of ambiguous scenarios
associated with more symptoms of depression, social anxiety, and moral. However, analyses
revealed no statistically significant effects of awe on the dependent measures. Several
limitations of the study should be considered when interpreting the findings. Future research
requires greater clarity in how we think about the accommodative aspect of awe, and much more
research needs to be conducted before considering its role in cognitive interventions.