The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: a longitudinal study during COVID-19

María Monroy; Özge Uğurlu; Felicia Zerwas; Rebecca Corona; Dacher Keltner; Jake Eagle; Michael Amster

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-35200-w

The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: a longitudinal study during COVID-19

Sci Rep. 2023 Jun 8;13(1):9336. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35200-w.

Authors

María Monroy^{1

2}, Özge Uğurlu³, Felicia Zerwas³, Rebecca Corona³, Dacher Keltner³, Jake Eagle⁴, Michael Amster⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, MC #5050, Berkeley, CA, 94720-5050, USA. mariamonroy@berkeley.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, USA. mariamonroy@berkeley.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, MC #5050, Berkeley, CA, 94720-5050, USA.
⁴ Independent Scientist, Hawi, Hawaii, USA.
⁵ College of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University California, Vallejo, USA.

Abstract

In the present work, we used daily diary methodology to investigate the influence of awe on stress, somatic health (e.g., pain symptoms), and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We recruited a sample of community adults (N = 269) and a sample of healthcare professionals (N = 145) in the United States. Across both samples, we found that awe and well-being increased, and stress and somatic health symptoms decreased over the 22-day diary period. In daily level analyses, we found that the more daily awe people experienced, the less stress, less somatic health symptoms, and greater well-being they felt. Daily experiences of awe can benefit individuals during times of acute and chronic stress-such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19*
Emotions
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Pain
Pandemics*
United States