Road to Awe: Perils, Challenges, Findings, and Open Questions
Alice Chirico
Catholic University of Sacred Hearth
Italy
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Brief Bio
Alice Chirico is an Assistant Professor (M-PSI/01, ssd E11-1) at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan (Italy) where is also lecturer of the course “Psychotechnologies for wellbeing”, “Designing Experiences in the Meatverse: An introduction”, and of the course “Creativity and Design Thinking”. Is also Scientific Senior Member of the Center of Study and Research in Communication Psycholgy, Director of the Experience Lab and of the Research Unit of Psychology of Music at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan and Board Member of the Order of Psychologists of Piedmont. In 2020, got national scientific qualification (ASN) as Associate Professor M-PSI/01. Is also Chartered Psychologist (N. 7990) and professional singer. Alice Chirico was visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania (PA) in 2018 under the supervision of Professor Martin Seligman. Was Honoree for the “Best Student Experience” at Proto Awards 2016 Los Angeles (USA) with a project entitled “Body-Swapping: creating the illusion of the embodiment using Virtual Reality”. In 2019, won the international award "Prize for Mental Health Applications and Ideas" sponsored by the European Alliance of Innovation. In 2023, won the “Best scientific paper” prize of the Catholic University. In 2025, was awarded the international Tecnovisionarie® prize for women who are transforming the healthcare sector by integrating science and new technologies. Alice Chirico main research focus concerns complex experiences (e.g., the sublime, awe, flow experience, group creativity) as elicited by art (especially, by music) and Virtual Reality (VR). With more than 100 articles on these topics, in 2022, published the first Italian book on awe and the sublime (Publisher: San Paolo Press), the book “Psychology of Salvador Dalì” (Publishers: Out of Nowhere, Repubblica, Le Scienze), and the handbook “Creativity and Design Thinking” (Publisher: The Way press), and have initiated a new research field concerning Complex Experiences. The book on “Complex experiences” is now in press (Publisher: Jacabook; Milan). Alice Chirico work has been featured in international and national media outlets, including the BBC, Washington Post, the Scientific American, La Stampa, Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 ore, The EurekAlert!, Psychology Today, The Academic Times.
Abstract
Over the past decade, research has increasingly focused on the multifaceted nature of awe, which transcends simple positive and negative valences. Here, I discuss the key findings and theoretical developments that have emerged from this extended investigation, from my research perspective, emphasizing the significance of awe in psychological processes and its potential for practical application. Initially, research focused on defining and measuring awe. It has been conceptualized as an emotion elicited by stimuli perceived as vast—either conceptually or perceptually—triggering a need for cognitive accommodation. Though awe has long been considered a transformative emotion, theoretical evidence suggests that its intensity is often diminished in laboratory settings. In order to address this gap, I refined both the operational definition of awe and the methods used to elicit it by utilizing novel technologies such as virtual reality (VR). Additionally, I began to question the construct validity of existing instruments used to assess awe in experimental settings. The use of immersive videos, which rely on perceptual spatiality, has demonstrated to be more effective than conventional 2D videos in eliciting intense emotions of awe - but only when they are built on content that has been pre-validated as being capable of eliciting such emotion. By incorporating these insights, we were able to develop novel, interactive, VR-based scenarios to elicit awe both in the lab and in everyday settings. The potential of VR-elicited awe has emerged not only in enhancing short-term creative thinking but also as an epistemic emotion—that is, one capable of motivating learning by bridging knowledge gaps. The PROMETHEUS project, funded by the Cariplo Foundation, capitalized on awe’s epistemic properties to design new teaching methodologies and intervention strategies in educational settings marked by high dropout rates. However, awe holds even greater promise for both individual and societal well-being. Through the PONE EU REACT project, we explored the potential of awe-inspiring VR scenarios to foster pro-environmental behaviours—particularly "socially engaging behaviors"—as a result of awe’s connection-related appraisals. As evidence for awe’s positive impact on psychological and social well-being grows, two further steps are now crucial. First, we must translate lab-based findings on awe and VR into real-world applications. To this end, we have developed and tested a new awe-based training module in social VR aimed at enhancing creativity. Second—and perhaps more challengingly—we must return to the foundational issue of construct validity in awe assessment, especially across cultures. Beyond ongoing cross-cultural validation of dispositional and state scales, there is now an urgent need to revisit and refine the construct itself and the conditions under which it is validly assessed. To this end, I have initiated a novel interdisciplinary research line exploring the relationship between awe and the sublime, with a particular focus on European cultural contexts.