Elevation: what you feel when you see others being good
This is a positive post, but it starts with a good cry.
Until recently, I didn’t understand why I often have tears in my eyes while watching TV. It isn’t because I watch a lot of sad or overly romantic movies or series. No, I realized that I am most moved when I watch people being or doing good.
Not long ago I learned that there is a name for what I feel. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt calls it elevation: “the uplifting feeling that people experience when they see unexpected acts of human goodness, kindness, courage or compassion.” You can think of elevation as sort of the opposite of disgust. Let me give you some examples of what elevates me (and perhaps you too).
In a previous article, I wrote about the Buddhist concept of the bodhisattva. The idea of beings seeking enlightenment for the betterment of others touches me. It’s elevation. According to Haidt, elevation is “a common human response to witnessing saints and saintly deeds, or even to hearing about them second hand.”
A movie I experience elevation with, is Patch Adams, with Robin Williams (dog rest his soul) as a super-empathic doctor who tries to make his patients feel better by bringing joy and laughter to them. It sounds like a cheesy tearjerker, and it is, but to me it’s also… elevating. Here’s a fragment from near the very end.
Another example is Running on Empty, with River Phoenix, in which an activist family is on the run from the FBI. I can’t keep it together watching this fragment, or the ending (but you probably need to see the whole thing to appreciate these bits. Trigger warning: eighties haircuts!
Perhaps the piece of content that most elevates me is part of an older animal rights documentary called The Witness. It’s about an activist called Eddie Lama. In the fragment, we see him drive through Manhattan at night, with a van to which he has attached a big TV and a loudspeaker. The screen is displaying images of what happens to animals in the fur industry. But it’s not this man’s actions - as wonderful as they are - that move me so much: it’s the reaction of all the passers-by upon seeing the footage. You can check out what I’m talking about from minute 37 here. See if you are moved like I am at the shock and empathy on people’s faces, with Sarah McLaughlan’s haunting Angel playing in the background. (Trigger warning: you can see some of the animal suffering images indirectly/vaguely, but I suggest to not let that stop you from watching).
Another example is animal rescues, including the beautiful work of people on animal sanctuaries. At our own little sanctuary, for instance, I can see that many guests are moved and inspired by the work my girlfriend Melanie is doing for chickens - so much so that they sometimes spontaneously make a donation without her even asking. I think that there are many other forms of activism that are much more scalable and structural than saving individual animals, but in terms of inspiring others, rescues seem second to none. One can imagine even chicken farmers being affected by this sort of empathy.
Finally, if you want more examples, google pictures to restore your faith in humanity.
The important thing here is that witnessing good deeds can do more than just make you feel good. Here’s Jonathan Haidt about a study he conducted on elevation:
“Elevated participants were more likely to report physical feelings in their chests—especially warm, pleasant, or “tingling” feelings—and they were more likely to report wanting to help others, become better people themselves, and affiliate with others.”
In other words, doing good can be contagious. When we’re helping someone - a human or non-human being - there is the value of that act in itself, but also, any witnesses - direct or online - will feel good and inspired.
There are two takeaways here.
The first is that we shouldn’t be afraid to share our good deeds - with humility and authenticity.
The second is for our own benefit: we should actively seek out content that elevates us, and immerse ourselves in stories of goodness and kindness. They can recharge us, so we can continue to do good and inspire others in turn.
Great advice Tobias. Outside of inspiring TV programmes, I don’t often experience moral elevation in my daily life. I wish I experienced it more. I’m probably not seeking out enough morally elevating content. Two positive moral emotions that I do, however, experience with some frequency, are awe and tenderness.
Awe is a positive emotion that accompanies feeling “small” in relation to your surroundings – what I felt when I stood under the Titanosaur in the American Museum of Natural History. Like elevation, it can inspire feelings of humility and connectedness (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Recently, I brought a friend to a local eagle and vulture sanctuary. I recall experiencing a strong sense of awe when approaching the magnificent birds and we left the sanctuary inspired.
Contrastively, tenderness is a warm feeling that accompanies the perception of vulnerable individuals, and motivates care-taking behaviours (Sherman & Haidt, 2011). Back in 2017, my colleagues and I ran some studies and found that tenderness, when evoked by images of cute baby farmed animals, can temporarily reduce appetite for meat, particularly in women (Piazza et al., 2018). That was a nice finding because it suggests that feeling tenderness towards an animal and enjoying its flesh may be incompatible emotions. But, of course, emotions are temporary, and it takes more than a moment of displeasure to overcome a lifetime of eating and enjoying meat.
All of this to say that I agree with you: actively seeking out content that gets our “moral juices” flowing is a good use of our time. Thanks for the inspiring post.
Thank you for the motivating article 🙏
I dare to say that most activists shy away from talking about our good deeds. This can be for many reasons, but most probably because, at the extreme, doing the work should take up all of our time to help animals. And talking about "doing the work" is not "doing the work".
I have come to learn that this is not exactly true and that both need to coexist. I would not be "doing the work" if others before me hadn't inspired me through their actions and sharing their good deeds.
So please keep sharing yours!