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International Symposium on Pervasive Computing Paradigms for Mental Health

MindCare 2019: Pervasive Computing Paradigms for Mental Health pp 1–11Cite as

Virtual-Reality Music-Based Elicitation of Awe: When Silence Is Better Than Thousands Sounds

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Abstract

Several researches have revealed the potential of awe, a complex emotion arising from vast stimuli able to prompt for a restructuration of people’ mental schema, on wellbeing and health. Despite a lot has been revealed about awe, researchers still face the challenge of eliciting intense instances of awe in a controlled way. A combination of two or more emotion-induction techniques can enhance the intensity of the resulting emotion. VR has resulted as one of the best techniques to elicit awe, but it has never been tested in combination with other effective awe-inducing methods, such as music. Here, we tested the combined effect of VR and music on the resulting awe’s intensity. We randomly assigned 76 healthy participants to one of these four conditions: (i) VR with background sounds (ii) VR and Music, (iii) only Music; (iv) VR without sounds. VR environments and music have been validated in previous studies on awe. Before the exposure to each stimulus, we asked participants to rate the extent to which they felt (i.e., experienced) seven emotions. After the exposure, we measured also how much participants perceived (i.e., they “read” it into the emotional material) each of the seven emotions, as well as their general affect (Positive and Negative Affective Schedule), their sense of presence (i.e., how much participants felt to be “present” within a scene) (ITC-SOPI Inventory), the sense of perceived vastness and need for accommodation associated to the stimulus material (Brief Awe-Scale). We also assessed also participants’ disposition to live seven discrete positive emotions (Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale) and musical preferences (STOMP). “VR with Music” condition elicited a higher (even not significant) sense of ecological validity compared to Music condition. All conditions elicited significantly higher sense of felt awe, joy, and fear compared to the baseline and a significantly lower anger after each condition. Participants in the Music condition felt a lowest sense of amusement after the exposure. We found no effect of condition on felt awe. Conversely, perceived awe was significantly higher in the “VR and Music” condition compared to the Music condition. “VR without sounds” condition elicited significantly higher sense of fear compared to Music condition, and significantly lower sense of pride and sadness compared to Music condition. We found no significant effect for any covariate variable. These results have relevant implications for fundamental research on awe and to design awe-based training enhancing wellbeing health, or targeting severe emotional disorders, such as Depression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Alice Chirico & Andrea Gaggioli

  2. Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

    Andrea Gaggioli

Authors
  1. Alice Chirico
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  2. Andrea Gaggioli
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Correspondence to Alice Chirico .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

    Pietro Cipresso

  2. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Silvia Serino

  3. Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    Daniela Villani

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© 2019 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Chirico, A., Gaggioli, A. (2019). Virtual-Reality Music-Based Elicitation of Awe: When Silence Is Better Than Thousands Sounds. In: Cipresso, P., Serino, S., Villani, D. (eds) Pervasive Computing Paradigms for Mental Health. MindCare 2019. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 288. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25872-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25872-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25871-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25872-6

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