Much of people’s lives is spent in the presence of others, sharing and co-experiencing life’s moments. These shared experiences are a core component of social life, and they can vary not only in the activities they entail but also in the emotions they inspire. What are the types of shared experiences worth seeking out and having? As sources of social connection and meaning, shared awe-inspiring experiences may be especially beneficial relative to shared experiences tinged by other positive emotions. Guided by work on the different qualities of discrete positive emotions, I investigated whether co-experienced moments of awe increased social connection and meaning via a variety of methodologies across several studies.Five studies yielded mixed support for this hypothesis. In Study 1, expressions of awe in reviews of Airbnb Experiences—guided, group-based activities (e.g., surfing lessons, restaurant tours, nature excursions)—were positively associated with expressions of connection and meaning, controlling for general positivity. In Study 2, recalled shared experiences of awe were associated with greater perceived social connection to one’s experience partner and, in turn, meaningfulness, relative to recalled shared ordinary and amusing experiences. In Studies 3a and 3b, participants who anticipated watching an awe-inspiring video with an acquaintance reported greater anticipated meaningfulness, but not social connection, compared to those who imagined watching an amusing or neutral video. Finally, in Study 4 participants who were instructed to seek out an awe-inspiring experience with someone else reported that the experience was more meaningful, but not connecting, than participants who shared an experience of their choosing as a control condition. Together, this research contributes to and expands the literature on both shared experiences and awe, suggesting that shared awe-inspiring moments might be especially potent sources of meaning relative to other shared experiences.

The emotion awe is associated with numerous individual and social benefits, including increased physical and mental health, prosocial behavior, and humility (Stellar et al., 2017). Additionally, individuals can vary in their dispositional tendencies to awe. However, the emergent scientific literature on awe has not yet explored awe induced over time. Guided by intervention work on similar positive emotions (e.g., gratitude, compassion), I tested whether an awe intervention would a) increase daily reports of awe and individuals’ dispositional proneness to experiencing awe, and b) whether this proneness would be sustained after the end of the intervention. Participants (N = 237) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions (awe, pride, control) in which they were instructed to seek out and attune to emotional experiences pertaining to their condition over a 14-day intervention period. Participants in the awe condition reported greater daily awe across the 14-day intervention. Likewise, dispositional awe increased in only the awe condition between the beginning and end of the intervention period, and this increase was maintained two weeks after the end of the intervention. Results suggest that seeking out and attuning to awe for a prolonged period of time can increase daily and dispositional awe in a sustained way.