Self-transcendent emotions
Feelings that pull attention beyond the self toward others and something larger.
What it means
Self-transcendent emotions are a family of positive, other-oriented states — including awe, elevation, gratitude, compassion, and admiration — that shift attention away from the self and one's narrow interests toward other people, the collective, or something greater than oneself. They are distinguished from self-focused positive emotions like pride or amusement by their tendency to diminish self-concern, foster a sense of connection, and motivate prosocial and ethical behavior such as generosity, helping, and cooperation. Mechanistically, they often involve appraisals of witnessing virtue, vastness, or benefit received, and several are thought to quiet self-referential processing, which may explain their links to meaning and humility. They are central to theories of moral development, religious and spiritual experience, and well-being, since they bind individuals into groups and encourage behavior that benefits others at a cost to the self. They matter for understanding altruism, social cohesion, awe-driven open-mindedness, and interventions that cultivate meaning and generosity.
Examples
Watching someone perform a courageous act of kindness produces elevation — a warm, uplifted feeling that makes onlookers want to help others themselves.
Under a night sky far from city lights, people describe feeling small in a good way — and afterwards are readier to give a stranger their time.
A patient who writes to thank the nurse who sat with her overnight finds the feeling turns outward: within a month she is volunteering on the same ward.
First described in Haidt; Stellar, Keltner and colleagues.