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Parental tradition transfer to children is pivotal for their socialization, identity formation, and culture perpetuation. But what motivates parents to transfer traditions to their children? We hypothesized that nostalgia, an emotion strengthening interpersonal bonds, would promote tradition transfer through parent-child relationship closeness. We tested these hypotheses using cross-sectional (Studies 1 and 4), cross-lagged (Study 2 and preregistered Study 5), and experimental (Studies 3 and 6) designs. In Studies 1 to 3, nostalgia was associated with, had lagged effect on, and promoted tradition transfer. In Studies 4–6, parent-child relationship closeness mediated the link between nostalgia and tradition transfer. The findings enrich our understanding of the vertical transmission of knowledge, customs, and values, offering insight into how intergenerational bonds are reinforced and cultural heritage is maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awe, a self-transcendent emotion, has been theoretically posited as a precursor to wise reasoning. However, direct empirical evidence supporting this relationship and the underlying mechanism has been limited. In four studies (N = 3700), we examined the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, as well as the mediating effect of self-transcendence, employing cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs. We consistently found that awe had a lagged effect on (Study 1), enhanced (Studies 2 & 3), and was associated with (Study 4) wise reasoning. Furthermore, self-transcendence mediated this relationship (Studies 3 & 4). The impact of awe on wise reasoning and mediating effect of self-transcendence could not solely be attributed to awe’s predominantly positive nature, and the mediation model was established beyond the influence of self-smallness (Studies 3–4). These findings contribute to understanding the emotional trigger of wise reasoning, the cognitive implications of awe, and its role in promoting wise conflict resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awe has been shown to promote well-being through various mechanisms (see Monroy & Keltner, 2023). In this research, we propose a novel perspective for the well-being benefits of awe: Awe fosters equanimity—a balanced state of mind toward all experiences of any valence—and we document how this works, namely, through temporal distancing. Across seven studies, using a combination of experiments, big data analytics, and intervention methods, we provide support for our hypotheses. In Studies 1–3, induced awe increased equanimity, indexed by a self-report scale (Study 1), a decrease in emotional reactivity (Study 2), and an unbiased behavioral approach to positive and negative experiences (Study 3). In Studies 4–6, awe increased equanimity via temporal distancing. This effect persisted beyond self-diminishment (i.e., feeling small and insignificant) and proved to be cross-culturally robust (Study 4). An analysis of almost 200,000 posts on social media (Study 5) revealed that the proposed mediation model manifested in ecologically rich contexts. Study 6 provided causal evidence for the mediation model. Finally, in a 5-day awe intervention (Study 7), awe increased psychological and physical well-being, with equanimity accounting for these benefits. Taken together, these findings reveal that awe cultivates a balanced state of mind by shifting one's temporal perspective on life events. Statement of Limitations: Our research on awe's effect on equanimity is subject to several limitations that merit acknowledgment. First, we tested participants from China and the United States, but we did not systematically examine potential cultural differences. Researchers can enhance our understanding by investigating the potential cultural variations in awe's effects on equanimity and its implications for well-being. Additionally, our research primarily focuses on exploring awe's impact on the general population. It would be intriguing for researchers to focus on specific populations with distinct emotional reactivity profiles, such as individuals with cardiovascular diseases or mania, and test whether awe's benefits still hold true. This approach could provide a more nuanced understanding of how awe affects different subgroups. Last, although our findings from a 5-day awe intervention suggest improvements in well-being through increased equanimity, this intervention's long-term effects remain unexplored. Future research employing a longitudinal design would be invaluable for assessing awe's enduring effects on well-being over an extended period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimism, a positive mindset towards the future, serves various adaptive functions. While its significance has been acknowledged in the literature, the role of self-transcendence in fostering optimism remains underexplored. The present research contributes to the literature by demonstrating that awe, a typical self-transcendent emotion, fosters optimism through self-transcendence. We tested the proposition in four studies. In Study 1, we manipulated awe and found that awe boosted optimism. In Study 2, we compared the effect of awe with amusement on optimism, ruling out alternative explanations such as awe being merely a positive emotion or related to nature exposure. In Study 3, we tested the mediating effect of self-transcendence and excluded the potential mediating role of self-smallness. In Study 4, we manipulated self-transcendence and measured optimism to test the causal effect of self-transcendence on optimism. These findings offer new insights into cultivating optimism and highlight the importance of self-transcendence in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether and how awe impacts inspiration lacks sufficient empirical research. We conducted five studies (N = 941) to examine the awe – inspiration link and the mediating effect of self-transcendence. We found that awe promoted inspiration, which was indexed by an actual behavior indicator, others' ratings (Study 1), and multiple self-reported scales (Studies 2–4). Self-transcendence mediated this effect (Studies 3–4). The effect of awe on inspiration and the mediating effect of self-transcendence were established when comparing awe with a general positive emotion (i.e., amusement in Study 2a and happiness in Study 2b) and nature (Study 4), having emotions controlled for (Studies 2–4), and inducing awe with a threatening experience (Study 4). Taken together, awe exerted a unique effect on inspiration, and self-transcendence mediated this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether and how self-concept clarity (SCC) affects self-control has not been sufficiently explored in empirical research. We proposed that low SCC inhibits self-control through a lower sense of global self-continuity. The results of five studies provided converging support for our mediation model (N = 898). Compared with participants with high SCC, participants with low SCC scored lower on self-control scales (Studies 1 and 2), spent less time practicing to improve their performance on a tedious task (Study 3), and were less likely to stay focused on an ongoing task (Study 4) or to adhere to the exercise plan to stay healthy (Study 5). Global self-continuity mediated the effects of low SCC on self-control (Studies 1–5) even after emotional affect (Study 5) and self-esteem (Studies 4 and 5) were controlled for. These findings highlight the importance of fostering SCC for coping with self-control failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted six studies to test our hypotheses that ostracism disrupts self-continuity and that self-affirmation counters ostracism's negative influence on self-continuity. Participants who experienced more ostracism in their daily lives (Study 1), imagined being ostracized (Studies 2 and 5), recalled a past ostracism experience (Studies 3 and 6), and were ostracized in a ball-tossing game (Study 4) reported lower levels of self-continuity than their counterparts. Moreover, neither violations of expectation nor negativity of the experience was sufficient in decreasing self-continuity (Study 5). Finally, self-affirmation weakened the negative effect of ostracism on self-continuity (Study 6). Taken together, our findings provide converging causal evidence for our hypotheses and provide novel insights for the literature on how daily interpersonal interactions influence individuals' sense of an enduring self. In addition, the moderation of self-affirmation reported in our research indicates an effective approach to diminishing the negative influence of ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the temporal need–threat model, ostracism results in three stages of responses. Research on the responses to ostracism has predominantly focused on the first two stages, and the literature needs further empirical evidence on responses to long-term ostracism. We conducted two studies to better understand the association between long-term ostracism and depressive symptoms. Study 1 found a positive association between long-term ostracism and depressive symptoms. More importantly, Study 1 found the threatened sense of meaning in life partially mediates the relationship. Study 2 further found that self-compassion, a positive and healthy trait, weakens the relationship between long-term ostracism and depressive symptoms. More specifically, self-compassion moderates the relationship between the threatened sense of meaning in life and depressive symptoms. Our findings not only further our understanding about the negative consequences of long-term ostracism but also suggest a possible way to mitigate depressive symptoms associated with long-term ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In five studies, we tested whether ostracism triggers feelings of relative deprivation and whether relative deprivation accounts for the impact of ostracism on aggression. Relative to participants who recalled either inclusive or neutral experiences, participants who recalled ostracism experiences reported higher levels of relative deprivation (Study 1). Furthermore, the feeling of relative deprivation mediated the effect of ostracism on aggression (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b). Framing ostracism as an experience of nondeprivation weakened the connection between ostracism and aggression (Study 4), which suggests an effective way of reducing aggression following an ostracism experience. Together, these findings highlight the significance of relative deprivation in shaping people's responses toward ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]