Elevation (emotion)

Elevation is an emotion elicited by witnessing actual or imagined virtuous acts of remarkable moral goodness.^[1]^[2] It is experienced as a distinct feeling of warmth and expansion that is accompanied by appreciation and affection for the individual whose exceptional conduct is being observed.^[2] Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to, affiliate with, and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity.^[3]

Elevation can also be a deliberate act, characteristic habit, or virtue that is characterized by disdaining the trivial or undignified in favor of more exalted or noble themes. Thoreau recommended, for example that a person "read not the Times [but rather] read the Eternities" so that he "elevates his aim."^[4]

^
- Thomson, Andrew L.; Siegel, Jason T. (20 December 2016). "Elevation: A review of scholarship on a moral and other-praising emotion". The Journal of Positive Psychology. 12 (6): 628–638. doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1269184. S2CID 151370046.
- Pohling, Rico; Diessner, Rhett (December 2016). "Moral Elevation and Moral Beauty: A Review of the Empirical Literature". Review of General Psychology. 20 (4): 412–425. doi:10.1037/gpr0000089. S2CID 151508946.
^ ^a ^b Aquino, Karl; Brent McFerran; Marjorie Laven (April 2011). "Moral identity and the experience of moral elevation in response to acts of uncommon goodness". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 100 (4): 703–718. doi:10.1037/a0022540. PMID 21443375.
^ Haidt, Jonathan (2003). "Elevation and the positive psychology of morality". Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. pp. 275–289. doi:10.1037/10594-012. ISBN 1-55798-930-3.
^ Thoreau, Henry David (October 1863). "Life Without Principle". Atlantic Monthly. XII (72): 4874–495.

[1] 
Thomson, Andrew L.; Siegel, Jason T. (20 December 2016). "Elevation: A review of scholarship on a moral and other-praising emotion". The Journal of Positive Psychology. 12 (6): 628–638. doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1269184. S2CID 151370046.
Pohling, Rico; Diessner, Rhett (December 2016). "Moral Elevation and Moral Beauty: A Review of the Empirical Literature". Review of General Psychology. 20 (4): 412–425. doi:10.1037/gpr0000089. S2CID 151508946.

[2] Thomson, Andrew L.; Siegel, Jason T. (20 December 2016). "Elevation: A review of scholarship on a moral and other-praising emotion". The Journal of Positive Psychology. 12 (6): 628–638. doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1269184. S2CID 151370046.

[3] Pohling, Rico; Diessner, Rhett (December 2016). "Moral Elevation and Moral Beauty: A Review of the Empirical Literature". Review of General Psychology. 20 (4): 412–425. doi:10.1037/gpr0000089. S2CID 151508946.

[Aquino-2] Aquino, Karl; Brent McFerran; Marjorie Laven (April 2011). "Moral identity and the experience of moral elevation in response to acts of uncommon goodness". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 100 (4): 703–718. doi:10.1037/a0022540. PMID 21443375.

[Haidt-3] Haidt, Jonathan (2003). "Elevation and the positive psychology of morality". Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. pp. 275–289. doi:10.1037/10594-012. ISBN 1-55798-930-3.

[4] Thoreau, Henry David (October 1863). "Life Without Principle". Atlantic Monthly. XII (72): 4874–495.

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