Oh, the things you don't know: awe promotes awareness of knowledge gaps and science interest

Cognition & Emotion
Jonathon McPhetres

Abstract

Awe is described as an a "epistemic emotion" because it is hypothesised to make gaps in one's knowledge salient. However, no empirical evidence for this yet exists. Awe is also hypothesised to be an antecedent to interest in science because science is one way to fill those knowledge gaps. Results from four pre-registered studies (N = 1518) indicate that manipulating awe through online (Studies 1a, 1b, and 1c) and virtual reality (Study 2) videos, led to greater awareness of knowledge gaps. Awareness of knowledge gaps was consistently associated with greater science interest and to choosing tickets to a science museum over tickets to an art museum (Study 1b). These effects were not consistently observed on, nor moderated by, other measures related to cognition, religion, and spirituality. However, exploratory analyses showed that science interest was better predicted by positive emotions than by awe. Still, these results provide the first empirical evidence of awe as an "epistemic emotion" by demonstrating its effects on awareness of knowledge gaps. These findings are also extended to the effects of awe on science interest as one possible outcome of awareness of knowledge gaps.

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Citations

Nov 27, 2019·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Michiel van Elk, Mark Rotteveel
May 13, 2019·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Shirlene Wade, Celeste Kidd
Oct 20, 2020·Public Understanding of Science·Daniel Silva Luna, Jesse M Bering
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Nov 28, 2020·International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology·Jonathon McPhetres, Andrew Shtulman

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