The expression of awe: evolutionary origins and cultural elaborations of a basic emotion

Awe is the emotion people experience when encountering stimuli that are vast and beyond their current knowledge structures. In this article, we take a basic emotion approach to the study of the expression of awe, reviewing studies of awe-related movements of facial muscles, patterns of vocalization and bodily and postural movements. We first present evidence suggesting that awe indeed is a distinct emotional state. Guided by advances in the study of multi-modal emotional expression, we then review studies of how people express awe in a pattern of mouth and gaze activity, specific vocal bursts and head orientation upward, unfolding in coordinated patterns of expressive behaviour that have some degree of universality. Building upon recent theorizing in cultural evolution, we detail how the expression of awe is elaborated into cultural forms, including folklore, kinds of music (choral music), dance and portrayals of the sublime in visual arts. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms, development, phylogeny and functions of emotional expressions'.