Figure 2. Increase in respiratory sinus arrhythmia

(RSA) from baseline to levels during induction of

elevation or amusement.

Figure 1. Screenshots from the experimental condition’s elevation videos

(left) and the control condition’s amusement videos (right).

Materials and Methods • College undergraduates were recruited through the Oregon State University Psychology

Department’s online experiment management system in exchange for extra credit.

• Personality trait self-report measures were administered online through Qualtrics

(Qualtrics Labs Inc., Provo, UT). Items of each measure were presented on a five-point

scale, with responses ranging from ‘Strongly Disagree’ to ‘Strongly Agree.’ The names

and origins of all scales are listed below in Table 1.

• In a later in-lab assessment period, a five-minute emotionally neutral video was shown to

each participant, followed by either an elevating video or an amusing video. Screenshots

from each emotion-inducing video are shown in Figure 1. Baseline RSA was calculated

from the last two minutes of the neutral video, while emotion-induction RSA was

calculated from the second to ninth minutes of the elevating or amusing video.

Electrocardiography (ECG) signals were obtained using the BIOPAC MP150 hardware

system (Biopac Systems Inc., Santa Barbara, CA). ECG signal was refined and RSA

was calculated using CardioEdit and CardioBatch (Porges Lab, Brain-Body Center,

University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, IL).

• Following the videos, a series of Likert-type manipulation-check items that asked

participants about how they felt during the video were administered (Table 2). Videos

and manipulation check items were presented with E-Prime 2.0 (Psychology Software

Tools, Inc., Sharpsburg, PA).

• After the ECG was removed and immediately before debriefing, the experimenter spilled

a plastic cup containing 20 pencils and pens in a manner that appeared unintentional, and

then waited five seconds for the participant to respond before picking up the spilled

items. If the participant assisted the experimenter, the number of items that the

participant picked up was recorded as a helping task measure.

Introduction Moral elevation is a prosocial emotional state that is triggered by witnessing or

learning of the altruistic behavior of other people (Haidt, 2003; Algoe & Haidt,

2009). It has been considered as part of the awe-family of feeling states (Keltner &

Haidt, 2003), and as an ‘other-praising’ emotion (Haidt, 2003). Although he did

not use the term ‘Elevation,’ Thomas Jefferson provided a succinct description of

this emotion:

“When any ... act of charity or of gratitude, for instance, is presented either to

our sight or imagination, we are deeply impressed with its beauty and feel a

strong desire in ourselves of doing charitable and grateful acts also.” (Jefferson,

1771/1975, p.350)

Elevation can promote altruism. A study conducted by Schnall, Roper, and

Fessler (2010) found women who watched an elevation-inducing film clip were

more willing to help in an additional, unpaid study than those who watched a

nature film or a comedy clip.

Multiple studies associated specific feelings and cognitions with elevation,

including being moved, uplifted, being optimistic about humanity, having warm

feelings in the chest, wanting to help others, and wanting to be a better person

(Algoe & Haidt, 2009; Schnall et al., 2010; Silver & Haidt, 2008).

The emotional experience of elevation also has physiological correlates. Silvers

and Haidt (2008) presented videos to induce either elevation or amusement to

nursing mothers, and the mothers in the elevation condition secreted significantly

more milk and reported more tears/crying and chills on skin. The underlying

mechanisms underlying these physiological responses were not clear, but one

likely candidate is oxytocin.

Nursing can result from oxytocin’s action as a hormone, while social

engagement is mediated by oxytocinergic neural pathways (Porges, 2007). One of

these key pathways includes the oxytocin receptors at the medullary nucleus

ambiguus, which stimulate the vagus nerve and thereby link the central and

parasympathetic nervous systems. Activity of the vagus nerve can be indexed

through respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a pattern of heart rate variability.

Landis et al. (2009) assessed elevation as a personality trait, allowing it to be

placed in context of the Big Five traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness,

Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness), spiritual transcendence, and

altruism. The elevation scale presented with two factors, labeled Elevation I and

Elevation II, which were correlated with each other. Elevation I correlated

positively with Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, spiritual transcendence,

and altruism, while Elevation II correlated only with spiritual transcendence.

Hypotheses:

Participants experiencing elevation will show a greater increase in RSA and

exhibit helping behavior more so than those experiencing amusement.

Elevation measured as a personality trait will be predictive of prosocial profiles

and helping behavior.

Results Wilcoxon’s rank-sum tests were performed on Likert-type manipulation check items to compare differences between elevation

and amusement conditions, with a significance level of .05. The normal approximation Z-statistic and p-values are reported in Table

2 for each item.

Paired t-tests revealed that, in the elevation condition, RSA during the emotion-induction (M = 6.64, SD = 0.97) was significantly

higher than during baseline (M = 6.38, SD = 0.97), t(33) = 3.07, p = .004. In the amusement condition, there was no significant

increase from baseline (M = 6.75, SD = 1.25) to emotion-induction (M = 6.82, SD = 1.16), t(29) = 1.24, p = .223. An independent-

samples t-test showed the RSA increase during the elevation induction (M = 0.263, SD = 0.500) to be marginally larger than RSA

increase in amusement induction (M = 0.071, SD = 0.314), t(56.281) = 1.86, p = .069. Means and 95% confidence intervals of RSA

increase are illustrated in Figure 2. Helping behavior was not significantly different between conditions t(59) < 1.

Spearman coefficients and significance levels of bivariate correlations between trait elevation factors and prosocial personality

traits are indicated in Table 3.

Table 1.

Names of self-report scales used in the current study, along with the common

name of the construct measured and citation of article validating the scale.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Mean 5.80 2.67 4.14 3.34 3.70 3.52 3.21 4.02 3.41 3.65

Std. Dev. 7.59 0.66 0.61 0.58 0.55 0.55 0.70 0.58 0.78 0.54

N 61 100 98 106 107 97 108 108 60 58

1. Elevation I .19

(25)

-.49***

(54)

.19

(51)

.27*

(56)

.44***

(55)

.32

(49)

.43***

(57)

.51***

(57)

.49***

(58)

-

2. Elevation II .47*

(25)

-.27*

(56)

.30*

(53)

-.17

(58)

.51***

(57)

.34

(51)

.13

(59)

.58***

(59)

-

3. Compassion .10

(57)

-.26**

(99)

.33**

(97)

.24*

(105)

.51***

(106)

.28**

(96)

.35***

(108)

-

4. Love .24

(57)

-.44***

(99)

.22*

(97)

.69***

(105)

.44***

(106)

.21*

(96)

-

5. Awe .25

(53)

-.21*

(93)

.34***

(96)

.22*

(95)

.43***

(95)

-

6. Altruism .33*

(57)

-.55***

(98)

.39***

(96)

.38***

(105)

-

7. Trust .12

(56)

-.51***

(98)

.13

(96)

-

8. Gratitude .11

(54)

-.31**

(95)

-

9. Aggression -.04

(55)

-

10. Helping task -

Table 3.

Spearman correlation coefficients for bivariate comparisons of

dispositional scales. Correlation sample sizes are in parentheses.

Significant correlates unique to only one factor of elevation are bolded. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001.

Table 2

Manipulation check measures and significant differences between

conditions, determined by a Wilcoxon's rank-sum test.

Self-report item

Higher mean

in elevation

(N = 32)

Higher mean

in amusement

(N = 26) Z p

How much did this video affect you physically? x -1.09 .276

How much did this video affect you emotionally? x -3.31 < .001*

How interesting did you find this video? x -1.15 .251

Self-report item

Higher mean

in elevation

(N = 32)

Higher mean

in amusement

(N = 26) Z p

Happiness/joy x -0.35 .723

Warmth x -1.70 .089

Inspiration x -4.14 < .001*

Admiration x -4.19 < .001*

Hope x -4.02 < .001*

Tenderness x -2.94 .003*

Uplifted x -2.68 .007*

Awe x -1.81 .070

Amused x 3.08 .002*

Sympathy/compassion x -3.93 < .001*

Optimistic about humanity x -3.07 .002*

Wanted to help others x -4.45 < .001*

More open and loving towards people in general x -4.25 < .001*

More curious about the world x 0.00 1.00

Self-report item

Higher mean

in elevation

(N = 32)

Higher mean

in amusement

(N = 26) Z p

Eyes watering/tearing up x -5.02 < .001*

Lump in throat/choked up x -4.53 < .001*

Warm or expansive feelings in chest x -2.76 .006*

Nausea x -1.14 .252

Heart beating faster x -1.75 .081

Change in breathing x -1.44 .149

Chills, goose bumps, or tingling on skin x -3.45 < .001*

Laughter x 3.58 < .001*

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the elevation may be mediated in part by oxytocinergic stimulation

of the nucleus ambiguus and activation of the myelinated vagus nerve, as evidenced by RSA

increases during elevation induction. The experimental induction of elevation did not increase

helping behavior, although unlike previous studies, such as Schnall et al. (2010), the experimenter

did not directly request assistance. Elevation Factor II of the trait measure did have a moderately-

strong correlation with helping. Trait elevation seems to be associated with prosocial profiles,

though the two factors may relate to differing tendencies. In this study, the unique correlates of

Elevation II were gratitude and helping behavior, while Elevation I was uniquely correlated with

trust and love. Future studies will include measures of oxytocin and cortisol release and additional

measures of neural function to further explore moral elevation’s involvement with the body’s social

engagement and stress-response systems.

Name of scale Construct measured Source

Trait Elevation Scale Elevation I & Elevation II (Landis et al., 2009)

Dispositional Positive Emotion

Scale

Compassion, Love, &

Awe

(Shiota, Keltner, & John,

2006)

NEO PI-R Agreeableness facet Altruism (Costa & McCrae, 1992)

General Trust Index Trust (Yamagishi, T. &

Yamagishi, M., 1994)

Gratitude Questionnaire-6 Gratitude (McCullough, Emmons, &

Tsang, 2002)

Buss-Perry Scale subscales Physical and verbal

Aggression

(Buss & Perry, 1992)

Acknowledgements NSF CAREER Grant BCS-1151905

Fetzer Institute

Oregon State University start-up and Provost funds

Undergraduate research assistants of the Saturn Lab, for their

dedication and commitment to quality research.

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