Members in the Media
From: The Wall Street Journal

Researchers Study Awe and Find It Is Good for Relationships

The Wall Street Journal:

Polett Villalta says her first deep scuba dive was one of the best experiences of her life. As she descended to 110 feet, a sunken ship slowly became visible in the green-grey water. A turtle swam by.

She and her dive buddies entered the darkness of the ship with a flashlight, and the wreck “came alive,” she says. Colorful coral grew over the submerged steel; parrotfish and angelfish darted in and out of shadows. She dropped to the sand and touched the bottom of the ocean.

People report having three awe experiences a week on average, says Dacher Keltner, director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Keltner’s lab has been working with the Sierra Club to take 56 inner-city high-school students on a rafting trip and study whether they experience academic benefits. Preliminary findings show that a week after the trip the teens reported being more engaged and curious about what was happening in the world.

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal

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