🪐 How Awe Gives You Wisdom

New research suggests that moments of awe can strengthen wise reasoning by helping you transcend yourself

Age, experience, and hardship can all build wisdom over time. As we navigate the world and make mistakes, we learn which behaviors help us and which decisions hinder us.

However, our wisdom can ebb and flow because it’s less about natural talent or intelligence and more about the characteristics of our reasoning. When our reasoning is wise, it tends to include an awareness of our own limits and an openness to multiple viewpoints or alternative outcomes.

Wisdom is a mindset that allows people to navigate challenges and conflicts without becoming rigid, defensive, impulsive, or narrow-minded. And the latest science suggests some good news—we may be able to cultivate more moment-to-moment wisdom in our daily lives. Rather than waiting for the hard lessons of age and experience, we can instead look for support in a very human feeling: awe.

🧪 What did the researchers do?

Across four studies involving more than 3,700 participants, researchers examined the link between awe and wisdom using a combination of longitudinal and experimental designs.

In a longitudinal survey study, adolescents completed validated measures of dispositional awe (i.e. a measure of your general levels of awe experience) and wise reasoning at two time points two months apart. This allowed the researchers to test whether awe predicted later changes in reasoning style.

In experimental studies with adults, participants were randomly assigned to watch either awe-inducing videos (majestic natural scenes or vast cosmic imagery) or neutral videos (more mundane natural images like the countryside). They were then asked how they would resolve challenging workplace scenarios involving social conflict. Independent coders who were blind to the hypotheses of the study evaluated participants’ open-ended responses for markers of wise reasoning, including:

• Humility—acknowledging limits of personal knowledge

• Perspectives—considering multiple viewpoints

• Change—recognizing that situations may evolve in many different ways

• Compromise—searching for balanced or integrative solutions

The researchers also measured two distinct states in relation to feelings of awe to see whether one or other would be more important in driving any changes in wisdom:

• Self-smallness—feeling small or insignificant

• Self-transcendence—feeling connected to something bigger

🔍 What did the research find?

In the longitudinal study, awe predicted increases in wise reasoning over time. Young people who reported experiencing more awe in their daily lives showed stronger wise reasoning two months later. Wise reasoning did not predict later awe, suggesting the direction ran from awe to wisdom.

When the researchers made people feel awe in the lab with videos, this also boosted wise reasoning in the moment. After experiencing awe vs the control condition, people demonstrated more balanced and integrative thinking when reflecting on workplace conflicts. Although both conditions showed people videos of natural scenes, only the “wow” feeling associated with the awe group boosted actual wisdom.

Experiences of awe boosted feelings of both self-smallness and self-transcendence, but only self-transcendence statistically explained wise reasoning improvements. So it’s not enough for awe to make people feel small in relation to the universe, it has to make them feel connected to the broader universe. When awe shifts people out of a narrow ego-focused mindset and toward a wider, interconnected perspective, advantages in wise reasoning follow.

The findings remained significant after controlling for general feelings of happiness. Awe’s impact was not simply a byproduct of feeling good, but rather a product of feeling expanded. While many intense emotions can narrow our thinking or make us more impulsive, awe appears to do the opposite. It gives us space for complexity, uncertainty, and integration—the core components of wise reasoning.

⭐️ Takeaway tips

#1. Awe is more than a happy feeling

• When admiring the beauty of a snow-capped mountain range, a violent waterfall, or the latest pictures from NASA, we can all feel a spark of awe. That positive feeling stretches beyond merely our emotions and can benefit the quality of our decision-making. Whether you’re feeling demotivated or preparing for a big meeting, presentation, or challenging social scenario, allow yourself time to enjoy the things you find awesome. It could be a walk through nature, listening to powerful music, or looking up at the stars at night. Based on the study above, even brief moments of awe are enough to improve reasoning.

#2. Practice self-transcendence

• The active ingredient in awe that benefits reasoning seems to be self-transcendence. People often report these kinds of experiences when they meditate or when they connect with their religions, and there are other ways to experience self-transcendence too. When dealing with a challenging scenario or conflict, ask yourself:

  • How would this look from an outsider’s perspective?

  • How does this fit into the broader scheme of my life?

  • What matters here beyond my momentary emotions or ego?

#3. Become familiar with wise reasoning principles

• Psychology research suggests there are a few central principles that make reasoning wise:

  • Intellectual humility

  • Compromise

  • Openness to other perspectives

  • Willingness to accept uncertainty

“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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