Emotion Review· 2017Q1· Review
Self-Transcendent Emotions and Their Social Functions: Compassion, Gratitude, and Awe Bind Us to Others Through Prosociality
- 673citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Self-transcendent emotions like compassion, gratitude, and awe evolved to foster prosociality, aiding caretaking, cooperation, and group coordination.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Self-transcendent emotions are a distinct category of positive emotions.
- Compassion, gratitude, and awe are key examples of self-transcendent emotions.
- These emotions are linked to specific expressive behaviors and physiological responses.
- Evolutionary origins suggest these emotions facilitate caretaking, cooperation, and group coordination.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In this article we review the emerging literature on the self-transcendent emotions. We discuss how the self-transcendent emotions differ from other positive emotions and outline the defining features of this category. We then provide an analysis of three specific self-transcendent emotions—compassion, gratitude, and awe—detailing what has been learned about their expressive behavior, physiology, and likely evolutionary origins. We propose that these emotions emerged to help humans solve unique problems related to caretaking, cooperation, and group coordination in social interactions. In our final section we offer predictions about the self-transcendent emotions that can guide future research.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Emotion Review, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Literature and Literary Theory
Literature and Literary TheoryArts and Humanities