SPECIAL ISSUE: Toward psychology in the future —the current studies by young psychologists (1)
Awe and meaning-making
2020 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 28-43
Details
2020 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 28-43
Creating a meaning system is fundamental to human adaptation. This article reviews how the emotion of awe, characterized by perceived vastness and the need for accommodation, has a crucial role in meaning-making. Empirical evidence suggests that the experience of awe alters how people construe the world, the self, and the relationship between them, and in finding meaning in life. Directions for future research are discussed with a focus on how the dynamic process of meaning-making through awe would be constrained by cultural meaning systems and how sharing awe experiences with others would contribute to collective meaning-making processes.
