Sensitivity toward awe-inspiring visual experiences is present early in lifeNumerous studies show that adults appreciate and gain a variety of benefits from awe-inspiring experiences. Related research on children, however, is scant. This research addressed this gap by investigating how 4- to 9-year-old children perceive awe-inspiring stimuli.
Four separate studies were conducted to examine children's responses to awe-inspiring videos and images, relative to stimuli that depicted everyday garden scenes, common objects and scenes of large crowds, depending on the specific study. Study 1 focused on awe-inspiring expansive nature; Study 2 on natural disasters; Study 3 on expansive nature stimuli compared to expansive social stimuli (crowds); and Study 4 on diverse types of awe-inspiring stimuli (vast nature, natural disaster, and objects in slow motion). Across the four studies, 444 children, aged 4-9 years, participated. The sample sizes for individual studies ranged from 62 to 199. Testing of the children occurred individually in each child’s home in a five - to ten-minute online session using Zoom. The children watched two short videos (of a minute or less) and then indicated which video made them feel more intensely in terms of: feeling small, connected to the world, and motivated to explore and learn. They were also asked which image they preferred. Additional questions for Study 4 assessed children’s sense of familiarity with the visual experiences, as well as their perceived emotions of awe, fear, and joy in response to viewing the images. A sample of adults was included in all four studies (total N=492) “to explore the developmental endpoint and continuity.” Assessment procedures for adults were similar to the children’s.
Compared to a videos of commonplace garden scenes, videos of vast nature (e.g. a sweeping vista, study 1) as well as natural disasters (e.g. a volcano eruption, study 2) made the children feel smaller and more motivated to explore and learn. Compared to scenes of vast social scenes (crowds, study 3), vast nature scenes also provoked children to think beyond their usual needs and desires, to feel more capable of improving their own lives, and to feel unique. Similar responses from adults indicated that “the vast nature visual experience motivated them to understand unknown things and aspire to become nicer and kinder.” Finally, various awe-inspiring scenes (i.e., vast nature, natural disaster and objects in slow motion) provoked greater awe and increased motivation to learn compared to everyday objects. This was especially true for older children. In contrast, children did not demonstrate an increased sense of being connected to the greater world in response to vast nature and the authors suggest this may be a concept that is too abstract for children's cognitive developmental level.
This research indicates that children can detect differences in various awe-inspiring scenes even when they share some common elements (e.g. vast nature vs. vast social stimuli). The authors conclude that “sensitivity toward awe-inspiring visual experiences is present early in life” and that the awe experience can include self-transcendence.
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