Awe and Perspective taking

Understanding another’s perspective is an essential component of a healthy social interaction. However, the motivation to empathize with others can often be low. My thesis investigated whether the emotion of awe may motivate perspective taking. I found that dispositional awe was positively correlated with multiple trait measures of perspective taking. However across a variety of analyses inducing awe did not consistently promote greater accuracy and reduce reaction time in a visual perspective taking task compared to neutral and amusement control conditions. I found evidence that awe improved overall cognitive flexibility, but it is not clear that this flexibility is specific to taking another’s visual perspective. These results suggest that awe may be related to dispositional perspective taking or perspective taking at a higher social cognitive level, but it does not affect other-focused visual attention or perspective taking.M.A