Awe is a powerful positive emotion that offsets negative emotion and fosters prosocial behavior. This study examined the effects of awe on health and well-being in healthy older adults. Half of the participants took a weekly "awe walk" while the other half took a weekly walk with no further instructions.
Awe fosters well-being and positive emotions that promote social relationships. Awe shifts attention from ourselves to the outside world and is associated with diminished self-focused attention. We aimed to increase awe in healthy older adults to test whether greater awe experience would lead to gains in other types of positive emotional experience and reductions in negative emotional experience.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
60
To examine the effect of weekly awe walks in cognitively healthy older adults.
To examine the effect of weekly walks in cognitively healthy older adults.
UCSF Memory and Aging Center
San Francisco, California, United States
Daily awe experience questionnaire
Increase in awe experience
Time frame: 8 weeks
Daily compassion experience questionnaire
Increase in daily compassion experience
Time frame: 8 weeks
Daily negative emotional experience questionnaire
Decrease in daily negative emotional experience
Time frame: 8 weeks
Generalized Anxiety Disorder- 7 Item Scale
Decrease in anxiety
Time frame: 8 weeks
Satisfaction With Life Scale
Increase in well-being
Time frame: 8 weeks
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