Feeling small but still connected: examining complex effects of Awe on self-compassion

Abstract Having a self-compassionate attitude is linked to positive psychological functioning, making it important to identify experiences that promote self-compassion. Several self-transcendent experiences and emotions (e.g., mindfulness), have been shown to predict self-compassion. As awe is considered a self-transcendent emotion, we examined awe as a potential elicitor of self-compassion. This investigation aligns with recent and rapidly growing interest in awe’s intrapersonal consequences. In the present work, we conducted three studies to investigate the relationship between dispositional (Study 1), and experimentally-induced (Study 2 and 3) awe and self-compassion. A correlational relationship between awe proneness and trait self-compassion was observed in Study 1 ( N = 473), and awe proneness uniquely predicted self-compassion over and above pride, compassion, and amusement. However, Studies 2 ( N = 483) and 3 ( N = 377) did not find that reflecting on awe experiences had a causal impact on self-compassion. Instead, we observed opposing indirect effects via awe’s self-transcendent mechanisms–such that awe simultaneously boosted feelings of self-diminishment, which negatively predicted self-compassion (Studies 2 & 3), and boosted feelings of connectedness, which positively predicted self-compassion (Study 3). The indirect effect of awe on self-compassion via self-diminishment generalized to different ‘flavors’ of awe (positive and negative nature) and was distinct from a joy control condition (Study 2). This work highlights complexities surrounding the relationship between awe and self-compassion, which aligns with past work on intrapersonal consequences of awe (e.g., meaning), but is somewhat at odds with the literature on other self-transcendent experiences and emotions (e.g., mindfulness) which directly promote self-compassion.