The emotion called Elevation

And why we need to study it more.

Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash

We have all recently seen Federer and Nadal crying, haven’t we? And those who love the sport cried with them.

The fact that we can be so sensitive to the good deeds or big moments of others — even though it does not benefit us directly — is a very important aspect of human nature. This shows a brighter side to humanity, and it is worth studying.

There are many emotions one can feel. Happiness, sorrow, disgust, fear, anger, jealousy, etc. We all know about them. But there is one that remains relatively unknown. The feeling is called elevation.

Most theories in the social sciences claim that people’s actions and feelings are stimulated by self-interest. If that is true, why are we moved to tears by the good deeds or selfless actions of others?

You even see people cry while reading a book, watching a movie, or listening to music, right?

Jonathan Haidt, an American psychologist, has studied this feeling, which he calls “elevation.” He defines elevation as a warm, uplifting feeling that people experience when they see unexpected acts of human good­ness, kindness, courage, or compassion.

Psychologists have studied morality by primarily focusing on negative moral emotions, especially guilt and anger.

But elevation can be understood as the opposite of disgust. Disgust is an emotion that makes us feel repulsion. It could be toward bad food, excrement, dead bodies, and other objects. It makes sense because these things are full of harmful bacteria. Hence the repulsion. But when Haidt studied disgust, he found that most people repeatedly men­tioned social offenses like hypocrisy, racism, cruelty, and betrayal as disgusting. So, the opposite of these things would make people feel the emotion called elevation.

Elevation is a very important emotion to be able to feel. Because the other response to something remarkable in another person can be envy which has several downsides. Envy is not experienced when someone does an act of bravery, self-sacrifice, or caring for others.

It is not a ‘new feeling.’ People often write about it. You may recognize descrip­tions of it. When Oprah Winfrey says that she has been moved, touched, or inspired by someone or something, that feeling is elevation.

Ever heard the phrase “tears of celebration”? You may just as well call them “tears of elevation.” It is the rush of emotion that you feel when you watch an emotional gesture, a beautiful artwork, a mesmerizing sunset or read a good book or watch a good movie.

So the next time you feel chills or a tingling sensation in your chest in response to something that doesn’t benefit you, stop feeling silly and be proud of your emotional intelligence.