Music and Awe

Abstract

The current study was designed to evaluate whether the phenomenological experience of “awe” can be considered an emotion. Models of emotion regard emotions as states that are preceded by a trigger and that are typified by a self-reported subjective experience of an emotional response, physiological changes, and behavioral manifestations. Additionally, emotions bias cognitive processes and behavior. The effects of awe on cognition have been virtually unexplored, but anecdotal reports suggests that awe may bias one to detect agency or intentionality and may also influence how one thinks of the significance of their life. The current study employed self-selected music as a stimulus to trigger awe and tested cognitive outcomes. Half of the participants were instructed to identify a song that makes them feel pleasurable chills (sometimes referred to as frisson), and the other half were instructed to listen to a song selected by a different participant (which would be less likely than a self-selected song to induce awe or chills). Subjective emotional experience was reported with Likert scales for several emotions, as was the strength of the chills experienced. After listening to the musical stimulus, participants completed an agency-detection task and the Meaning of Life Questionnaire (MLQ). Although there were no significant correlations between the extent to which participants reported experiencing awe and their scores on the agency-detection task or the MLQ, there was a significant positive correlation between the strength of the chills induced by the music and the strength of awe induced, indicating that musical frisson may be experientially similar to (or the same as) awe. Additionally, the experience of awe was not strongly correlated with the experience of other distinct emotional states, consistent with the idea that awe may constitute a distinct emotional state.