Eftychia Stamkou, Eddie Brummelman, Rohan Dunham, Milica Nikolic, Dacher Keltner
4 min
While awe is a well-studied emotion in adults, its role in childhood development remains largely uncharted. This research investigates whether art-elicited awe can foster prosocial behavior in children—specifically toward out-group members—and whether this experience is linked to distinct physiological markers associated with social engagement.
Across two preregistered studies (an online experiment and a field experiment at a science museum), children aged 8 to 13 were exposed to movie clips designed to elicit awe, joy, or a neutral state. Researchers measured prosociality through two tasks: an effortful food-counting assignment for refugees and a donation task where children could give up their own rewards (raffle tickets or snacks). In the second study, researchers also used electrocardiography to measure physiological responses, specifically focusing on parasympathetic nervous system activity.
Children who watched the awe-eliciting clips were consistently more likely to donate their personal rewards to refugees compared to those in the joy or control conditions. This suggests that awe acts as a unique catalyst for generosity that is distinct from general positive affect. Physiologically, the awe-eliciting clips were associated with increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation known to facilitate calm social engagement. This provides a biological basis for why awe may shift a child's focus from the self toward the needs of others.
This study challenges the notion that art experiences are merely internal or imaginary, demonstrating that they have tangible, real-world consequences for social behavior. By identifying awe as a mechanism that can bridge the gap between in-group favoritism and out-group prosociality, the research offers a potential pathway for fostering empathy and generosity in children through carefully curated environmental and educational experiences.
Rooted in the novel and the mysterious, awe is a common experience in childhood, but research is almost silent with respect to the import of this emotion for children. Awe makes individuals feel small, thereby shifting their attention to the social world. Here, we studied the effects of art-elicited awe on children’s prosocial behavior toward an out-group and its unique physiological correlates. In two preregistered studies (Study 1: N = 159, Study 2: N = 353), children between 8 and 13 years old viewed movie clips that elicited awe, joy, or a neutral (control) response. Children who watched the awe-eliciting clip were more likely to spend their time on an effortful task (Study 1) and to donate their experimental earnings (Studies 1 and 2), all toward benefiting refugees. They also exhibited increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with social engagement. We discuss implications for fostering prosociality by reimagining children’s environments to inspire awe at a critical age.
Alex: [probing] What about experimenter effects on the donation task itself? Kids are notoriously responsive to what adults seem to want. [[RP_SECTION:experimental-design-controls|Experimental Design Controls]]
Sam: [matter-of-fact] That's a real confound they addressed directly. The experimenter left the room and closed the door before the child made the donation decision — the choice was made in private, with no adult present to read approval or disapproval from. That's a load-bearing design choice. It's what lets the authors argue the donation reflects an internal shift rather than a child performing generosity for an adult audience.
Alex: [slower, weighing it] That's a sensible control, and the effect sizes hold up under it. Where would a careful referee still push back? [[RP_SECTION:limitations-and-future-research|Limitations and Future Research]]
Sam: [clear] Two places. First, this is entirely lab-induced — a few minutes of film footage, not a naturally occurring encounter with vastness. Whether that translates into any lasting behavioral change, rather than a one-off donation in an experimental room, is untested here. Second, relying on film clips as the awe stimulus limits ecological validity — awe experienced through a screen may not engage the same processes as awe experienced in person, say at a landscape or a live performance.
Alex: [reflective] So the mechanism — small-self state plus parasympathetic activation plus a private decision context — is fairly well specified for this setting. It's the jump from lab-induced awe to anything durable in daily life that remains open.
Sam: [sitting back] That's the fair summary. It's a clean piece of work on a short-term causal pathway between an aesthetic experience and a specific act of generosity toward an out-group. What it doesn't tell us is whether that pathway does anything once the film ends and the child walks back into ordinary life.
Alex: [light] If you want the figures and the method choices we skipped, you can generate a deep dive of this paper. The paper has the rest either way.
Sam: [warm] Thanks for listening.