If experiences of profound transformation have a core moment, that can be awe, an emotion able to maximize the possibility to change especially through its self-transcendent nature. Awe arises from stimuli so vast to prompt people to go beyond their current schema. Awe would drag people into a deep moment of uncertainty in which assimilation process fails, but accommodation has not successfully taken place yet. In this middle-suspended moment of extreme potential, everything might occur. This entry started with the current psychological definition of awe; then, it summarizes main researches in this field. Finally, I outlined the transformative nature of this phenomenon – as a self-transcendent emotion – and a new perspective to frame it in relation to a sense of possibility to change.
Chirico, A., Voce "Awe", in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2020: 1-9. 10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_30-1 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/153877]
Awe
Chirico, Alice
2020
Abstract
If experiences of profound transformation have a core moment, that can be awe, an emotion able to maximize the possibility to change especially through its self-transcendent nature. Awe arises from stimuli so vast to prompt people to go beyond their current schema. Awe would drag people into a deep moment of uncertainty in which assimilation process fails, but accommodation has not successfully taken place yet. In this middle-suspended moment of extreme potential, everything might occur. This entry started with the current psychological definition of awe; then, it summarizes main researches in this field. Finally, I outlined the transformative nature of this phenomenon – as a self-transcendent emotion – and a new perspective to frame it in relation to a sense of possibility to change.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.