Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: What Awe Is and Why It Matters
What Awe Is and Why It Matters
Knowledge check
Q1. In psychology research, which two core dimensions are most commonly identified as defining the experience of awe?
- A. Happiness and calmness
- B. Perceived vastness and a need for accommodation ✓
- C. Fear and surprise
- D. Nostalgia and gratitude
Why: Keltner and Haidt's influential model describes awe as involving perceived vastness (something large that transcends our usual frame of reference) and a need for accommodation (mentally updating our understanding to fit the new experience).
Q2. Which of the following is an example of an experience most likely to evoke awe?
- A. Checking a grocery receipt
- B. Watching a thunderstorm roll across a mountain range ✓
- C. Answering routine emails
- D. Waiting in a checkout line
Why: Natural phenomena of great scale, such as storms over mountains, are classic sources of awe because they present vastness that is hard to fully comprehend with everyday mental frameworks.
Q3. What does the term 'need for accommodation' refer to in the study of awe?
- A. A desire for comfortable lodging while traveling
- B. The mental effort required to revise existing beliefs or schemas in light of a overwhelming experience ✓
- C. A preference for social gatherings
- D. The urge to donate to charity after a moving event
Why: Accommodation describes the cognitive process of adjusting one's mental models when an experience is too large or unfamiliar to fit into existing expectations, which is a key feature distinguishing awe from ordinary positive emotions.
Q4. Why do researchers argue that awe matters for well-being?
- A. Awe reliably causes physical exhaustion that improves sleep
- B. Awe has been linked to feelings of connection, reduced self-focus, and greater prosocial tendencies ✓
- C. Awe eliminates the need for social relationships
- D. Awe increases competitiveness and individual ambition
Why: Studies suggest that experiencing awe shifts attention away from the self toward something larger, which is associated with feeling more connected to others, generosity, and a sense of meaning.
Q5. Which emotion is most often contrasted with awe because both can involve perceiving something vast, yet awe is typically experienced as positive?
- A. Joy
- B. Pride
- C. Fear ✓
- D. Contentment
Why: Awe and fear can both arise from encountering something vast and powerful, but awe is generally experienced as a positive or mixed emotion, whereas fear is primarily a threat response, so context and appraisal distinguish them.
Module 2
Module 2: The Science of Awe: Vastness and Accommodation
The Science of Awe: Vastness and Accommodation
Knowledge check
Q1. According to Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt's influential definition, what are the two core features of awe?
- A. Happiness and gratitude
- B. Perceived vastness and a need for accommodation ✓
- C. Fear and surprise
- D. Pride and admiration
Why: Keltner and Haidt (2003) defined awe as the emotion experienced when encountering something vast that transcends one's current frame of reference, which requires the mind to accommodate new information. Vastness and accommodation are the two core features.
Q2. Which of the following is an example of accommodation in the context of awe?
- A. Ignoring a stimulus that feels unfamiliar
- B. Updating one's mental schemas to make sense of an overwhelming experience ✓
- C. Feeling pleasure from a favorite meal
- D. Reacting quickly to a threat by running away
Why: Accommodation, a concept borrowed from Piaget, refers to revising existing mental structures when new experiences do not fit them. When awe-inducing stimuli like a vast night sky overwhelm current understanding, the mind must restructure its schemas.
Q3. Which of these is a stimulus most commonly cited as eliciting awe in research?
- A. A routine commute to work
- B. Looking up at a vast starry night sky ✓
- C. Reading a grocery list
- D. Checking email notifications
Why: Vast natural phenomena such as starry skies, mountains, oceans, and storms are frequently used in awe research because they produce perceived vastness that exceeds ordinary experience and prompts accommodation.
Q4. Why is vastness considered important to the experience of awe?
- A. It makes people feel more in control of their environment
- B. It signals that something exceeds one's usual mental frame of reference ✓
- C. It reduces feelings of social connection
- D. It guarantees a feeling of fear or danger
Why: Vastness refers to anything perceived as much larger than oneself or one's usual experience, whether in physical size, scope, or complexity. This mismatch with existing understanding is what creates the need for accommodation and characterizes awe.
Q5. Which statement best describes the relationship between awe and fear?
- A. Awe and fear are identical emotions with no differences
- B. Awe can involve a sense of threat or fear, but awe is distinguished by accommodation and a sense of the sublime ✓
- C. Awe always produces fear, while fear never produces awe
- D. Awe occurs only when there is no fear present at all
Why: Awe can include elements of fear, particularly in response to powerful stimuli like storms or cliffs. What distinguishes awe is the combination of perceived vastness and the mental work of accommodation, often accompanied by a feeling of wonder rather than pure threat.
Module 3
Module 3: Awe in Nature and the Natural World
Awe in Nature and the Natural World
Knowledge check
Q1. Which element is most central to the psychological experience of awe as described in research on the topic?
- A. A feeling of boredom caused by routine surroundings
- B. A sense of vastness paired with a need to mentally accommodate something new
- C. A strong urge to compete with others for status
- D. Heightened focus on personal financial goals
Q2. A hiker stands at the rim of the Grand Canyon and feels small in comparison to the landscape. What does this experience most likely illustrate?
- A. Fear of physical danger alone
- B. Awe triggered by perceived vastness in nature
- C. Simple boredom with a long walk
- D. Anger toward the park's management
Q3. Why do many researchers suggest that awe in nature can reduce self-focused thinking?
- A. Nature makes people more anxious about their appearance
- B. Vast natural scenes can make personal concerns seem smaller in comparison
- C. Natural settings always cause people to fall asleep
- D. Awe only occurs in crowded urban environments
Q4. Which of the following is a common feature of nature-based awe experiences?
- A. Tiny, ordinary sights that are easy to ignore
- B. Scenes that are immense, powerful, or seemingly boundless, such as oceans or mountains
- C. Man-made objects with no connection to natural processes
- D. Experiences that occur only indoors under artificial light
Q5. A person watches a total solar eclipse and describes feeling a deep sense of connection to the universe. Which concept best describes this response?
- A. Transcendence, a sense of being part of something larger than oneself
- B. Indifference toward astronomical events
- C. Irritation at a disrupted daily schedule
- D. Confusion caused by unfamiliar weather
Module 4
Module 4: Transcendence in Religious and Spiritual Traditions
Transcendence in Religious and Spiritual Traditions
Knowledge check
Q1. In many religious traditions, what term describes a state of consciousness in which the individual feels united with a higher reality or the divine?
- A. Mysticism ✓
- B. Meditation
- C. Liturgy
- D. Asceticism
Why: Mysticism refers to direct experience of or union with the divine or ultimate reality, a central theme across many religious traditions. Meditation is a practice that may lead to such states but is not the name for the states themselves, while liturgy and asceticism refer to ritual worship and self-discipline respectively.
Q2. Which concept in Hinduism refers to the ultimate reality underlying all existence, identical with the individual self (atman)?
- A. Dharma
- B. Karma
- C. Brahman ✓
- D. Moksha
Why: Brahman is the ultimate, unchanging reality that underlies the universe, and in Advaita Vedanta it is identified with atman, the individual self. Dharma refers to duty or moral order, karma to action and its consequences, and moksha to liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
Q3. In Christian mysticism, what is the term for the state of contemplative absorption in God in which the soul is passive and receives divine grace?
- A. Sanctification
- B. Infused contemplation ✓
- C. Penance
- D. Ecstasy of prayer
Why: Infused contemplation is the term used by mystics such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross for a form of prayer where God directly gives the soul a loving awareness of the divine, beyond the soul's own effort. Sanctification is the broader process of becoming holy, penance is an act of repentance, and while ecstasy is associated with mystical prayer, it is not the standard technical term for this state.
Q4. Which Buddhist term refers to the ultimate goal of awakening, the cessation of suffering and liberation from the cycle of rebirth?
- A. Nirvana ✓
- B. Samsara
- C. Tao
- D. Kami
Why: Nirvana is the state of liberation in Buddhism, marked by the extinguishing of craving, aversion, and delusion, which ends the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Samsara is the cycle itself, Tao is a central concept in Taoism, and kami are spirits in Shinto.
Q5. Which religious scholar wrote 'The Varieties of Religious Experience' (1902), a classic study examining mystical and religious states of mind?
- A. Rudolf Otto
- B. Mircea Eliade
- C. William James ✓
- D. Max Weber
Why: William James's 1902 Gifford Lectures, published as 'The Varieties of Religious Experience,' analyze religious experiences including mystical states and their psychological characteristics. Rudolf Otto wrote 'The Idea of the Holy' on the numinous, Mircea Eliade studied sacred and profane experience, and Max Weber is known for sociology of religion.
Module 5
Module 5: Awe in Art, Music, and Beauty
Awe in Art, Music, and Beauty
Knowledge check
Q1. In psychological research on awe, which feature is most commonly identified as central to the experience?
- A. A feeling of boredom combined with routine
- B. Perceiving something vast that challenges current understanding of the world ✓
- C. A sense of guilt about past mistakes
- D. Excitement about a upcoming personal reward
Why: Researchers such as Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt define awe as the emotion felt when encountering something vast that the mind struggles to fully comprehend, often requiring a shift in one's existing mental frameworks.
Q2. Which of the following is an example of awe being evoked by music?
- A. Hearing a familiar jingle in a television advertisement
- B. Feeling chills during a crescendo in a symphony that seems to lift you beyond ordinary experience ✓
- C. Tapping your foot to a steady, predictable drum beat
- D. Humming a song to remember lyrics for a quiz
Why: Awe in music often arises from sudden shifts in dynamics, harmony, or scale, such as a symphonic crescendo, producing physical reactions like chills and a sense of being transported beyond everyday experience.
Q3. What does the term 'the sublime' typically refer to in aesthetic philosophy?
- A. Art that is purely decorative and ornamental
- B. Experiences of overwhelming greatness, such as vast mountains or storms, that provoke both fear and admiration ✓
- C. Simple, everyday objects arranged neatly
- D. Humorous works designed to entertain
Why: Edmund Burke and later Kant described the sublime as the feeling produced by encountering vastness or power that exceeds our capacity to grasp, mixing terror with a sense of elevation and admiration.
Q4. Why do many people report feeling awe when standing before a large natural landscape, such as the Grand Canyon?
- A. Because the landscape is easy to understand and predict
- B. Because its immense scale makes the viewer feel small and connected to something larger than themselves ✓
- C. Because it reminds them of their daily chores
- D. Because awe only occurs in indoor settings
Why: Vast natural scenes often produce a 'small self' effect, where the perceived scale of the environment diminishes one's sense of self-importance and fosters feelings of connection to something larger.
Q5. Which statement best describes the relationship between beauty and awe in art?
- A. Beauty and awe are always the same and cannot be distinguished
- B. Beauty can produce pleasure and admiration, while awe involves a sense of vastness or wonder that stretches perception ✓
- C. Awe is only possible in art that is ugly or disturbing
- D. Beauty has no connection to emotional experience
Why: While beauty often evokes pleasure and appreciation, awe is distinguished by a sense of vastness and a challenge to one's understanding; some artworks combine both, but they are not identical experiences.
Module 6
Module 6: Ego Dissolution and the Self in Awe
Ego Dissolution and the Self in Awe
Knowledge check
Q1. In psychological research, what is the term most often used to describe the temporary loss of a sense of self-boundaries during intense awe experiences?
- A. Cognitive dissonance
- B. Ego dissolution ✓
- C. Social facilitation
- D. Self-monitoring
Why: Ego dissolution refers to a diminished sense of self-boundaries and self-focus, often reported during awe, mystical experiences, and psychedelic states.
Q2. Which self-related change is most commonly reported during awe experiences?
- A. A heightened focus on personal goals
- B. A reduced focus on the self and a sense of being smaller in relation to something vast ✓
- C. Increased self-criticism and rumination
- D. A stronger sense of competitive status
Why: Awe typically shifts attention away from the self and produces a feeling of smallness in the face of something larger, such as nature, the cosmos, or a great idea.
Q3. Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt proposed that awe has two core appraisal components. What are they?
- A. Pleasure and arousal
- B. Perceived vastness and the need for accommodation ✓
- C. Guilt and gratitude
- D. Fear and surprise
Why: Keltner and Haidt (2003) identified perceived vastness and a need for accommodation (updating one's mental frameworks) as the core components of awe.
Q4. How does ego dissolution during awe relate to prosocial behavior?
- A. It tends to reduce generosity because people feel insignificant
- B. It has no measurable connection to social behavior
- C. It is often associated with increased willingness to help others and feelings of connectedness ✓
- D. It leads to greater materialism
Why: Studies, including work by Piff and colleagues, found that awe can reduce self-focus and increase feelings of connection, which is linked to greater generosity and prosocial tendencies.
Q5. Which of the following is a common everyday trigger of awe that does not require extraordinary circumstances?
- A. Watching a vast starry sky or a towering mountain ✓
- B. Receiving a financial bonus
- C. Completing a routine email task
- D. Winning a competitive game
Why: Awe can be triggered by natural vastness such as starry skies or mountains, as well as by moral beauty or great human achievements, rather than by personal gain or routine tasks.
Module 7
Module 7: Cultivating Awe in Everyday Life
Cultivating Awe in Everyday Life
Knowledge check
Q1. According to psychologists who study awe, which of the following is a defining feature of the emotion?
- A. A sense of perceived threat or fear
- B. The perception of vastness combined with a need to accommodate new experiences ✓
- C. Feelings of boredom and detachment
- D. A strong urge to compare oneself favorably to others
Why: Awe is typically defined by two core components: perceiving something as vast (whether physically, conceptually, or socially) and a need to mentally accommodate or update one's existing understanding of the world to make sense of the experience.
Q2. Which of the following is an example of a everyday-life practice for cultivating awe?
- A. Scrolling quickly through social media feeds
- B. Deliberately noticing the complexity of ordinary objects, such as a leaf's vein structure ✓
- C. Multitasking while commuting to work
- D. Avoiding nature to reduce distractions
Why: Cultivating awe in daily life often involves slowing down and attending closely to ordinary features of the environment, revealing complexity and wonder that routine attention tends to overlook.
Q3. What does the term 'small-scale awe' refer to?
- A. Awe that is only felt in childhood
- B. Awe triggered by modest, everyday experiences rather than dramatic events like mountains or storms ✓
- C. Awe experienced only in small enclosed spaces
- D. A weaker form of awe that is not psychologically meaningful
Why: Small-scale awe refers to experiences like a beautiful song, a kind act, or a clever idea, which can evoke the feeling of vastness and accommodation in ordinary settings and are accessible for daily practice.
Q4. Research suggests that regularly experiencing awe is associated with which outcome?
- A. Increased feelings of entitlement
- B. Greater feelings of humility and prosocial behavior ✓
- C. Decreased curiosity about the world
- D. Heightened self-focus and rumination
Why: Studies by researchers such as Dacher Keltner and Paul Piff have linked awe with humility, reduced self-centeredness, and increased willingness to help others, since awe shifts attention outward from the self.
Q5. Which approach best reflects the idea of 'savoring' in cultivating awe?
- A. Rushing through experiences to reach the next goal
- B. Pausing to fully absorb and reflect on a moment of wonder ✓
- C. Recording every experience on a device without looking at it
- D. Focusing only on the outcomes of experiences
Why: Savoring involves intentionally extending and attending to positive experiences. Pausing to absorb a moment of wonder allows the feeling of awe to deepen and its benefits to take hold.