Meet the Awe Scientist

When Dr. Paul Piff, a social psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, first became curious about awe more than a decade ago, his questions seemed simple. What is awe, exactly, and what happens when we experience it? But answering those questions has been no simple task. To take his research to the next level, Piff and his team created an unprecedented study and traveled to one of the most awe-inspiring places in the world—Lake Tahoe—where they studied awe’s effects on more than a thousand people.

Dr. Piff was drawn toward the study of awe by its correlation with his field at the time—the study of human morality and social connections—as well as his own awe-inspired experiences hiking in Tahoe’s Desolation Wilderness and sea kayaking in the Pacific. And since the study of awe is relatively new, really picking up in the past 15 years or so, it gave him the chance to be at the forefront of a pioneering kind of research.

It’s fitting that Dr. Piff studied the effects of awe at Lake Tahoe, as the California resident has spent years exploring the lake and surrounding wilderness. His research, which often studies people before and after an awe-inspiring experience, has surprised him with its wide-reaching effects on well-being.

As a longtime social psychologist, he’s particularly interested in the social improvements. Awe-inspired people are more helpful, ethical, contented, and connected. “Nature could be thought of as asocial, since people go to get away,” he says, “but they come back and feel reconnected to everything.”

His most memorable experiment took place at the Heavenly Gondola, where one group spent two minutes at a viewpoint while the other visited the gift shop. Just two minutes spent taking in the view made a measurable change. “Awe blows your mind,” Dr. Piff says. “It’s an experience so complex that you need to change your viewpoint to make sense of it.”

And that’s just the start. Whether people were on the hiking trail, along the lakeshore, on the water, or looking out from stunning viewpoints, their feelings of awe had lasting effects. Learn more about this groundbreaking research in the three-part video series, “Beyond Awestruck: The Scientific Search for Connection.”

Lake Tahoe is a jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, awe-inducing experience. (And there is research to prove it.) Visit Lake Tahoe shares the wonder of this iconic alpine lake with the world and works passionately to preserve its grandeur and good times for endless generations. Explore things to do, places to stay and all the reasons to visit the South Shore of Lake Tahoe 365 days a year at VisitLakeTahoe.com.