Dr. Jennifer Stellar – three papers on awe, humanity, emotions, and social behavior.
Feelings in relation to art, especially in the contemplation of art, are for most people a matter of course. When we experience a piece of music, a movie, a work of art or a part of an artistic performance, we can encounter both a bodily affect and thoughtfulness. This could manifest as a feeling of time standing still, a so called ‘higher power’ can ocure.
Jennifer Stellar is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the director of the Health, Emotions, and Altruism Lab (HEAL). She received her PhD in Social-Personality Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
In her work Dr. Stellar explores emotions, in particular the phenomenon of awe. This is a tool used to answer a fundamental question about humans—how do we transcend our own self-focus to care about other people, groups, and society as a whole?
Art/Sensation archive links to three of her (and her co-writers’) work.
Awe and Humility
Stellar, J. E., Gordon, A., Anderson, C. L., Piff, P. K., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2017, August 31). Awe and Humility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000109
Positive and negative forms of awe
Gordon, A. M., Stellar, J. E., Anderson, C. L., McNeil, G. D., Loew, D., & Keltner, D. (2016, December 8). The Dark Side of the Sublime: Distinguishing a Threat-Based Variant of Awe. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000120
Positive emotions (especially awe) and health outcomes like immune functioning.
Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2015, January 19). Positive Affect and Markers of Inflammation: Discrete Positive Emotions Predict Lower Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines. Emotion. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000033