Social and Neural Bases of Awe and Feeling Moved (Kando) and their Effects on Behavioral Changes

Research Topic
Social and Neural Bases of Awe and Feeling Moved (Kando) and their Effects on Behavioral Changes

Lead Researcher
Masataka Nakayama, Program-Specific Assistant Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

Center Researchers
Yukiko Uchida, Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

Kuniaki Yanagisawa, Senior Lecturer, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

Fear and a sense of awe arise in the presence of magnificent nature, but also arise in the context of social relationships. Previous research has shown that fear and a sense of awe encourage pro-social behavior (e.g. monetary contributions) and curiosity (e.g., Piff et al., 2015) in humans. However, other emotional states similar to awe have not been studied, although the purportedly distinctive nature of awe has been emphasized. One emotional state that is similar to awe is “kando”, or being moved. Although “kando” is an important emotion, it has not received much attention by international comparative research. This project uses fMRI and EEG to investigate the neural bases of “kando” and their effects on behavior.

2020/05/22