The ‘Small Self’ occupies a revealing fault line in depth-psychological and transpersonal literature, marking the territory where the bounded, everyday ego confronts something vastly larger than itself. Christina Grof’s transpersonal framework explicitly contrasts the ‘small self’—the functional, embodied identity that pays bills, drives cars, and navigates social demands—with a deeper Self that transcends ordinary limitations, positing the two as simultaneous aspects of human nature rather than opposed entities. Piff, Keltner, and colleagues translate this intuition into empirical social psychology, operationalizing the small self as a measurable state of self-diminishment relative to perceived vastness, induced characteristically by awe, and demonstrating through five studies that its activation reliably increases prosocial behavior, ethical decision-making, and generosity. Their framework decomposes the small self into two empirically distinguishable facets—vastness vis-à-vis the self and self-diminishment proper—each carrying independent predictive weight. The I Ching tradition, as rendered by Ritsema and Karcher, offers an ancient counterpart in the Chinese concept of HSIAO: the small as flexible adaptive responsiveness, contrasted with the imposing, goal-directed quality of the great. Keltner’s broader work on awe situates the dissolving of self in a long lineage of spiritual and literary testimony. Across these registers, the small self is neither pathological nor merely deficient; it is a relational, contextually induced condition whose cultivation may be prerequisite to genuine other-regard.
we conceptualize the small self as a relative diminishment of the individual self and its interests vis-à-vis something perceived to be more vast and powerful than oneself.
Piff et al. provide the study’s definitive operational definition of the small self as a relational diminishment of individual identity in the presence of perceived vastness.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015thesis
We can directly experience these two aspects of our nature, the small self and the deeper Self. Most of the time, we are aware of the small self.
Grof establishes the small self as the functional, bounded ego of everyday life, contrasted with a deeper transpersonal Self that periodically breaks through ordinary awareness.
, The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path, 1993thesis
awe can result in a diminishment of the individual self and its concerns, and increase prosocial behavior.
This study’s central hypothesis directly links the small self—produced by awe—to measurable increases in prosocial behavior across five empirical studies.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015thesis
the positive association between the awe induction and generosity became nonsignificant when feelings of a small self were included in the model… awe leads to increased generosity via the small self.
Mediation analysis confirms that the small self is the mechanism through which awe translates into increased generosity, establishing it as a causal psychological pathway.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015thesis
These 10 items formed a highly reliable index of the small self (α = .89) and were summed and averaged.
Piff et al. detail a validated ten-item psychometric index of the small self, combining self-diminishment and perceived vastness items into a reliable composite measure.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
vastness vis-à-vis the self and self-diminishment are overlapping. Nonetheless, the results of the factor analysis indicate that the two facets are empirically distinguishable.
Factor analysis reveals that the small self comprises two correlated but distinct facets—vastness vis-à-vis the self and self-diminishment—each warranting independent investigation.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
the awe condition also gave rise to feelings of smallness of the self, which fully mediated the effects of awe on prosociality.
The small self is confirmed as the full mediator between awe induction and prosocial outcomes, ruling out mere nature exposure or generic positive affect as explanatory alternatives.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
small self ratings were significantly higher in the awe condition (M = 5.27, SD = 1.95), relative to the pride and neutral conditions.
Experimental evidence shows that awe, but not pride or neutral states, significantly elevates small self ratings, establishing awe as a privileged elicitor of the construct.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
self-diminishment and vastness vis-à-vis the self differentially relate to different forms of prosociality—a promising avenue for future research.
The authors propose that the two facets of the small self may have distinct downstream effects on different prosocial behaviors, opening a productive research agenda.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
Julian of Norwich used the phrase ‘I am nothing’ throughout to express her feelings of awe in relation to Christ’s love.
Keltner situates the small self experience within a centuries-long tradition of mystical testimony in which encounters with the divine produce profound self-diminishment.
, Awe The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can, 2023supporting
Multiple mediation model for Study 4 showing the specific indirect effects of the two facets of the small self—vastness vis-à-vis the self and self-diminishment—on prosociality.
Study 4’s multiple mediation model demonstrates that both facets of the small self independently mediate awe’s prosocial effects across negative and non-nature-based awe conditions.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015supporting
Small, HSIAO: little, common, unimportant; adapting to what crosses your path; ability to move in harmony with the vicissitudes of life; contrasts with great, TA, self-imposed theme or goal.
The I Ching tradition offers a cognate to the small self in the concept of HSIAO—flexible, adaptive responsiveness to circumstance rather than self-imposed goal-directedness.
, I Ching: The Classic Chinese Oracle of Change, 1994supporting
God must be very tiny because God has to fit inside me, right in the middle. And I am a very small boy.
Grof introduces the small self indirectly through a child’s intuition of divine immanence, framing the mystical core of religion as the intersection of the infinite with finite individual experience.
, The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path, 1993aside
Participants then put on headphones and were randomly assigned to watch one of three videos: a 5-min neutral clip… a 5-min clip that elicited amusement… or a 5-min clip inducing awe.
This passage describes the experimental methodology used to induce varying levels of the small self, providing procedural context for the core empirical findings.
, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior, 2015aside