The Effect Of Awe On Sense Of Meaning In Life And Its Psychological Mechanisms Among Chinese College Students

A sense of meaning in life as a positive psychological resource is not only relevant to survival,but is also important for health and well-being.Worldwide research indicates that 20% of psychological disorders are caused by frustration and value conflicts.Individuals with suicidal thoughts often report a lack of important lifesustaining beliefs.College is an important transitional stage in life,and college students are prone to the "hollow disease" of missing goals,low mood,and a lack of sense of meaning in life.Empirical studies show that positive emotions play an important role in enhancing the sense of meaning in life,but it is worth considering how to intervene in positive emotions.Awe,as a unique positive emotion that can be intervened,has attracted the attention of researchers.Awe is an emotional experience of admiration,wonder,submission,and confusion that occurs when individuals are confronted with something grand,vast,and beyond comprehension,and has the potential to transform people and can contribute quickly and powerfully to personal growth and change their lives.Awe-inspiring experiences may also be one of the fastest ways to reorient people’s values and goals.The relationship between awe and the sense of meaning in life was unclear,and the underlying mediating mechanism and moderating factors in this relationship was also underexamined.However,there are still some shortcomings.First,there is no definite conclusion regarding the cause and effect of awe and sense of meaning in life;second,the mediating effects of awe on the sense of meaning in life in different categories are not distinguished;third no studies explore the moderating effects of awe and sense of meaning in life.In addition the research methodology relies too much on cross-sectional studies,which limit the reliability of the findings.Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion,the appraisal-tendency framework,and "feeling as information" theory,this study systematically explores the relationship between awe and sense of meaning in life and its effects through multiple methods(cross-sectional survey,longitudinal tracking,and laboratory method)and multiple perspectives(dispositional awe and state awe),and hopes to find a convenient and effective path to enhance the sense of meaning in life.In Study One,the relationship between awe and sense of meaning in life was systematically explored through cross-sectional survey,longitudinal tracking,and behavioral experimental methods.Study 1,the correlation between trait awe and sense of meaning in life.DEPS-awe and MIL were used as instruments by collecting a sample of 1916 college students(Male,608;age M ± SD,19.68 ± 1.56).Analysis of variance,correlation analysis,and regression analysis of demographic variables were conducted.The results showed that college students scored poorly on both dispositional awe and sense of meaning in life,and that enhancement and interventions for awe and sense of meaning in life were necessary;dispositional awe was positively correlated with sense of meaning in life,and after controlling for demographic variables,dispositional awe predicted sense of meaning in life.Study 2,Dispositional Awe Predicts Sense of Meaning in Life.A 10-month,3-survey follow-up study of 662 participants(Male,191;age M ± SD,19.73 ± 1.6)was conducted using the same questionnaire as in Study 1,with measurement invariance tests and cross-lagged models constructed.Results showed that DEPS-awe and MIL measurement instruments showed measurement invariance and a mutually predictive bidirectional relationship between dispositional awe and sense of life meaning.Study 3,an experiment on the effect of dispositional awe on sense of meaning in life.108 participants(male,45;age,M ± SD,22.44 ± 2.53)were openly recruited and randomly divided into awe group,happy group,and neutral emotion group using a lottery,and a between-subjects design was adopted,with a written recall task used to initiate awe.The results showed that the reminiscence task effectively initiated dispositional awe in the subjects,and the sense of meaning in life of the awe group was significantly different from the neutral emotion group and did not reach statistically significant differences from the happy group.Study Two,based on the fact that awe affects the meaning of life,aims to explore the mediating mechanisms between awe and the sense of meaning in life.In Study 4,a cross-sectional study was conducted to initially reveal the mediating role of the small self and the quiet ego on awe and sense of meaning in life.By collecting a sample of544 college students(male,191;age M ± SD,19.69 ± 1.64),correlation analyses and mediating effect tests were conducted.The results revealed that awe influenced the sense of meaningfulness of life through the small self,the quiet ego,and chain,i.e.,people with high awe produced the small self and the quiet ego experiences,which in turn increased the sense of meaningfulness of life.Study 5,further revealed the prediction of the small self and the quiet ego on awe and sense of meaning in life.Longitudinal mediated effects analysis was conducted by collecting 532 questionnaires(male,189;age M ± SD,19.68 ± 1.56)after a follow-up period of 10 months.The results found that the longitudinal mediation effect was not significant for the small self and and significant for the quiet ego.Study 6,based on Study 5,explored the mediating effects of the small self and the quiet ego on awe and meaning of life through a laboratory study.A total of 330 college student participants(male,140;age M ± SD,22.69 ± 3.19)were recruited and randomly divided into experimental and control groups(between-subjects design).The results showed that the sense of meaningfulness of life was enhanced in both the awe group and the happy group.The results of the mediating effect of the subgroup variables showed that awe differed from the mediation effect of the glad-emotions group on the sense of meaningfulness of life and had its own uniqueness.The results validate that a threat-based variant of awe and positive awe acted on the sense of meaning in life through the small self and the quiet ego pathways,Still,there is no difference between different types of positive awe.In Study Three,based on Study Two,the moderating effect of Big Five personality on the relationship between awe and sense of meaning in life was further explored to find precise intervention subjects for the intervention study.In Study 7,498 college participants(male,191;age M ± SD,19.77 ± 1.62)were recruited through a crosssectional survey and tested for moderated mediating effects using Model 85 in the SPSS PROCESS program.The results showed the same mediated results as Study 4,where conscientiousness,openness,extraversion,and agreeableness personality traits enhanced the strength of the effect of awe and sense of meaning in life,and neuroticism personality weakened the relationship between awe and sense of meaning in life.Study8,which followed 996 participants(M,276;age M ± SD,19.87 ± 1.37),was analyzed with a multilayer linear model.Unconditional growth models showed that a sense of meaning in life developed over time in an upward trend,with significant individual differences in initial level and rate of development.The personality covariate growth model showed that openness,extraversion,conscientiousness,and neuroticism did not significantly affect the intercept of a sense of meaning in life.The full model results showed that neuroticism significantly affected the intercept and slope of the sense of meaning in life.At the same time,openness,extraversion,and conscientiousness only had a significant effect on the slope of the sense of life meaning.This suggests that openness,extraversion,conscientiousness,and neuroticism all influence the intercept of the sense of the meaning life and play a moderating role between reverence and the sense of meaning in life.The study concluded that(1)college students both scored low on awe and the sense of meaning in life,and enhancement and interventions for awe and sense of life meaning are necessary;(2)awe can influence the sense of meaning in life,indicating the importance of cultivating awe to enhance life meaning and reflecting the therapeutic value of awe as an emotion;(3)both the small self and the quiet ego may be mediating mechanisms for awe to influence the sense of meaning in life,with the quiet ego is a more robust mediating mechanism;(4)openness,agreeableness,extraversion,and neuroticism can enhance or diminish the strength of the effects of awe and sense of life meaning;(5)it can directly enhance the sense of meaning in life by directly intervening in the sense of meaning in life,or it can intervene in various types of awe to influence the sense of meaning in life,and it can also intervene in the small self and the quiet ego to mediate the enhancement of the sense of meaning in life,or even make joint interventions to improve the enhancement of the sense of meaning in life;Value and significance of the study:(1)It helps to enrich the connotation of awe theory.This study validates Perlin and Li’s awe theory,where awe is a positive emotional experience that can promote psychological maturation and recognition of the interdependence of self and others,enriching the connotation of awe theory;(2)it helps to extend the appraisal-tendency framework.The appraisal-tendency framework has been used mainly to explain negative emotions and has paid less attention to positive emotions.The mediating role of the small self and the quiet ego in this study was carried out in a framework the appraisal-tendency theory,assuming that awe arises from the evaluation of the ego and quiet self and then carrying this cognitive tendency to guide individuals through this lens to influence perceptions and judgments about the sense of meaning in life.If the hypothesis was be supported,it wouldprovide a series of evidence for the extension and application of the appraisal-tendency framework;(3)It helps to enrich the channels of enhancing the sense of meaning in life.Awe can act directly on the sense of meaning in life,and different types and potencies of awe can enhance the sense of meaning in life.They can also enhance the sense of meaning in life through the small self and the quiet ego mediation,which enriches the channels for enhancing the sense of meaning in life and indicates a proven path for cultivating the sense of meaning in life.Exploring the moderating role helps find precise intervention targets in intervention practice.This study reveals the correlations and limitations of the role of awe and sense of meaning in life and the need for targeted work with populations with different personality traits,which points to improving the relevance of awe education and sense of meaning in life enhancement practices.