THE EFFECT OF AWE ON INTERPRETATIONS OF AMBIGUOUS STIMULI

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