Elevation (emotion)

Elevation is an emotion elicited by witnessing virtuous acts of remarkable moral goodness. It is experienced as a distinct feeling of warmth and expansion that is accompanied by appreciation and affection for the individual whose exceptional conduct is being observed. Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to, affiliate with, and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity.

Elevation is defined as an emotional response to moral beauty. It encompasses both the physical feelings and motivational effects that an individual experiences after witnessing acts of compassion or virtue. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt also posits that elevation is the opposite of social disgust, which is the reaction to reading about or witnessing "any atrocious deed." Elevation is related to awe and wonder and has not previously been addressed by the field of traditional psychology. Haidt insists that elevation is worth studying because we cannot fully understand human morality until we can explain how and why humans are so powerfully affected by the sight of strangers helping one another. The goal of positive psychology is to bring about a balanced reappraisal of human nature and human potential. Positive psychologists are interested in understanding the motivations behind prosocial behavior in order to learn how to encourage individuals to help and care for each other. Thus, the field attempts to discern what causes individuals to act altruistically. While there is a great deal of research about individual acts of altruism, the amount of research done about a person's reaction to the altruism of others is surprisingly low. It is an oversight that Jonathan Haidt and others like him have striven to correct.

Jonathan Haidt is a preeminent researcher in the study of elevation and other positive moral emotions. He defines elevation as an emotion that is caused by witnessing virtuous acts or feats of moral beauty. He asserts that elevation elicits warm, pleasurable sensations in the chest, and it also motivates individuals to act more virtuously themselves. In his explanation of elevation, Haidt describes the three dimensions of social cognition. The horizontal dimension of solidarity refers to the fact that people vary in distance to the self in regards to affection and mutual obligation. For example, across cultures individuals act differently towards their friends than strangers. The second, vertical dimension is that of hierarchy, status, or power. Individuals moderate their social exchanges by the relative status of the people whom they are interacting with. Haidt asserts that individuals can vary along a third dimension, which he calls “elevation versus degradation” or “purity versus pollution.” This vertical dimension refers to the fact that individuals vary in their state and trait levels of spiritual purity. When individuals feel disgust toward certain behaviors, this emotion informs them that someone else is moving down on the third dimension. Haidt defines elevation as the opposite of disgust, because witnessing others rise on the third dimension causes the viewer to also feel higher on this dimension.

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