The overview effect: Awe and self-transcendent experience in space flight.

Abstract

Viewing the Earth from space has often prompted astronauts to report overwhelming emotion and feelings of identification with humankind and the planet as a whole. In this article, we explore this experience, known as the “overview effect.” We examine astronaut accounts of the overview effect and suggest existing psychological constructs, such as awe and self-transcendent experience, that might contribute to a psychological understanding of this experience. We argue that the overview effect suggests directions for future research on altered states of consciousness in new contexts, with potential implications for better understanding well-being in isolated, confined, extreme (ICE) environments such as space flight.

Space—A Virtual Frontier: How to Design and Evaluate a Virtual Reality Experience of the Overview Effect

“…Awe is a psychological construct that is considered part of a "self-transcendent" index of emotions, and is characterized by the perception of something vast, followed by a need to accommodate the experience (Keltner and Haidt, 2003). The "vastness" that elicits awe can be both perceptual and conceptual, and as discussed in Yaden et al (2016) in the case of the OE, astronauts are likely experiencing both perceptual and conceptual vastness when observing our planet floating in outer space. The planet is perceived to look minuscule when compared to the surrounding universe (perceptual vastness), while simultaneously introducing complex ideas like the fragility of life (conceptual vastness).…”

“…Since OE is a rare and complex phenomenon, there is little academic research on this topic. Some important steps toward building an understanding of its effects, components, triggers and progression have been taken (Gallagher et al, 2015;Yaden et al, 2016;Nezami, 2017), however a lot more research needs to be done before we can develop a complete understanding of the phenomenon. The primary focus of this paper is to analyze existing research and reports of the OE, and extract specific design guidelines from the research for the creation of a VR experience that could elicit a transformative experience similar to the OE.…”

“…To achieve these two goals, we are analyzing the spacetravelers reports described and summarized in White (2014) and Gallagher et al (2015) books on the OE, as well as the scientific research investigating this phenomenon (Yaden et al, 2016). We also draw from theories about transformative experience design (Gaggioli, 2016;Kitson et al, 2018;Stepanova et al, 2018).…”

The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe

“…These authors analyzed participants’ experiences of viewing the earth from a deep space perspective – the so called the “Overview Effect” (White, 1987; Yaden et al, 2016) – using a qualitative analysis. In another study, Gallagher et al (2015) induced the Overview Effect using a mixed reality test environment, in which participants watched four simulations of the earth or deep space as if they were astronauts on the International Space Station.…”

“‘Somebody is really up there!’: The 1969 Moon Landing as Historical Marker for an Era”

“…The response to the image was overwhelming. The New York Times compared Apollo 8's success to that of Christopher Columbus while the astronauts themselves were overcome by what psychologists labeled the “overview effect”—a “profound reaction to viewing the Earth from outside its atmosphere” (Yaden, et al. 4).…”