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

2018 Research Projects

Research Topic

Lead Researcher

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

Collaborating Researcher

Juri Kato, Assistant Professor, Kanazawa Institute of Technology

Center Researchers

Kuniaki Yanagisawa, Assistant Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University

Masataka Nakayama, Assistant Professor, 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.

2018/11/06