About This Project

Awe is an emotion that we experience when we become aware and appreciative of the mysteries of our world, and ourselves. This arises in various contexts, ranging from experiencing nature scenes to abstract imagery. Recent phenomenological work has utilized virtual reality (VR) to induce awe through simulating real world environments. To extend this literature, this study will use a psychedelic VR program to study how awe is experienced in an abstract context.

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What is the context of this research?

Awe is an emotion that is notoriously difficult to study, yet has fascinated scholars for centuries. A recent definition posits awe as a direct and initial feeling when faced with something incomprehensible or sublime. This often arises through experiences of nature, whether through viewing something vast such as the Grand Canyon, or something small, like a butterfly or the way light shines through a single drop of water. Awe can also arise through experiencing abstract phenomena, such as viewing works of art or through psychedelic experience. Recent phenomenological work has induced awe in laboratory conditions through VR and have begun to map out the qualities that characterize how we live and make sense of these experiences.

What is the significance of this project?

Awe is a profound experience that has only recently grabbed the attention of experimental psychology. It's an important emotion to study because of its potential for positive transformations, including having a more generous and interconnected perspective on life. Though we have begun to flesh out how people live and make sense of awe experiences, there is still much work to be done. For example, no work utilizing VR thus far has extended beyond simulating natural world environments and included abstract imagery. The significance of this project lies in its aim to study awe in this abstract context. Furthermore, this project expands beyond constructing common themes to elucidating the micro-dynamics of how this experience unfolds.

What are the goals of the project?

I will have participants experience a psychedelic VR program, then follow with up to two rounds of interviews. The first will follow an interpretive phenomenological analysis framework (IPA); this is a broader inquiry seeking to discover what they experienced in the virtual world, allowing the construction of themes that can extend and be compared to previous work on VR induced awe. The second round will be micro-phenomenological interviews. The goal of this interview method moves beyond common themes of experience and dives into how these phenomena actually appear in one's experience. The focus here is to shift away from what was experienced to how it was experienced, allowing inquiry into the structural characteristics of experience.