Beyond the Body/Self-Consciousness Matrix: Scale of the Physical Frame of Reference and Self-Transcendence Experience

We hypothesized that a shift from the body/self-consciousness matrix to a larger consciousness matrix, in which individuals perceive they belong to and are part of a larger life system, would lead to both a self-transcendence experience and positive transcendent emotions. In three studies, we experimentally exposed participants to macroscopic scenes of the earth from space and of various objects of the universe or to microscopic scenes about the inner workings of the human body. These conditions were compared to various control conditions depicting scenes of typical mesoscopic environments. All constructs were assessed using self-report measures. As predicted, a transient mental state marked by decreased self-salience, increased feelings of oneness, and transcendent emotions, such as awe, was consistently found to be significantly greater in the experimental conditions, in which the physical frame of reference (PFR) was changed, than in the control condition. Study 3 provides support for a sequential mediation model in which the changes in the scale of the PFR (i.e., vastness and smallness of the self) lead to a reduction in the body self (i.e., body loss) that mediates the effects of the experimental manipulation on self-transcendence. These results provide valuable directions for the study of self-transcendence.