How Aesthetic Chills Boost Feelings of Acceptance, Inspiration, and Meaning

Do you ever experience a wave of chills or goosebumps on your skin while listening to music, watching a movie, looking at art, or enjoying a nature scene?

Aesthetic chills are a universal phenomenon observed in many different cultures. It’s often described as a pleasurable physical sensation – a tingling of the skin or jolt up the spine – that occurs when we are deeply moved on an emotional level by a piece of music, film, art, literature, poetry, science, mathematics, or religion. It’s stimulated by the perception of something grand, beautiful, or awe-inspiring.

While up to 86% of people have experienced chills at some point in their lives, studies have shown that they are a strong predictor of high openness to experience, which is associated with greater creativity and intellectual curiosity.

New research reveals that aesthetic chills aren’t just a temporary experience of pleasure, they can also have a deeper impact on mental health and well-being.

The Effects of Aesthetic Chills on Well-Being

In one new study published in BMC Psychiatry, researchers discovered that aesthetic chills may have protective effects against depression and low self-acceptance.

They first gathered 96 participants who reported being in therapy and on medication to manage their clinical depression. They then had each individual look at visual-auditory content that was reported to have a high probability of eliciting chills.

Roughly 50% of the participants reported experiencing chills in response to the selected stimuli. Experiencing chills led to an instant increase in both emotional valence (the positivity or negativity of the emotional state) and arousal (the level of emotional activation or excitement). Chills also provide a huge dopamine hit – a feeling of pleasure and reward – that tells your brain, “This is special!”

Of those who experienced chills, several potentially therapeutic benefits were also found.

First they showed a significant emotional breakthrough as measured by the “Emotional Breakthrough Inventory” (EBI). After experiencing chills, participants were MORE likely to agree with statements such as:

• “I felt able to explore challenging emotions and memories.”
• “I was able to get a sense of closure on an emotional problem.”
• “I achieved an emotional release followed by a sense of relief.”

Participants also showed a measurable improvement in self-acceptance, as measured by the “Young Positive Schema Questionnaire” (YSPQ). After experiencing chills, participants were LESS likely to agree with statements such as:

• “I’m unworthy of the love, attention, and respect of others.”
• “I feel that I lack a stable base of emotional support.”
• “I feel alienated from other people.”

These types of maladaptive beliefs are common in depression, social anxiety, and loneliness, but aesthetic chills seem to lessen their power and influence, leading to a more positive self-image.

In general, the experience of aesthetic chills is often seen as a transcendent one, which is an essential pillar to living a more meaningful life.

During a spontaneous rush of chills, we instantly feel that we’re connected with a piece of art or music on a deep, profound, and unexplainable level. This can shake our “ordinary view” of the world and our relationship to it, which shifts our perspective to make us more open, appreciative, and connected to the beauty that exists all around us.

Researchers compare the experience with many of the positive effects seen in psychedelics, which have also shown to reshape people’s perspectives and spark emotional breakthroughs. Aesthetic chills can mimic some of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics without the use of psychoactive drugs, which is often a safer and less risky option for many people.

Now that we know the benefits of aesthetic chills, how can we create them?

Creating Aesthetic Chills: Finding What Resonates

Different stimuli will create aesthetic chills in different people.

Often what leads to chills or “goosebumps” can be influenced by an individual’s personality, past experiences, and cultural knowledge – including other factors like age, gender, and current mood – so that’s something to keep in mind when searching for things that resonate with you.

At the same time, psychologists are starting to find reliable ways of creating chills in a more consistent pattern through crowdsourcing and analyzing a large quantity of people’s responses to numerous videos on the internet. In one study published in the journal Scientific Data, researchers studied 200+ videos sourced from the Chills Database, a website that draws from social media, Reddit, and YouTube to find content that elicits a strong emotional response.

They first categorized each video into one of three categories: 1) Films, 2) Music, and 3) Speeches. They then tested each video with a small sample to see how effective and universal it was at creating aesthetic chills.

Here’s a list of the best examples they discovered from each category (from their limited selection) – these were reported to have a 70-90% success rate of creating chills in a U.S. audience.

Films

Final Battle Scene | Jurassic World – Epic battle scene from the action movie Jurassic World.

The Hanging Tree | The Hunger Games – Fan made music video based off The Hunger Games.

Emotional Scene | Interstellar – Powerful scene from Interstellar, chills often occur at line: “Because my dad promised me.”

Giving – Thai life insurance commercial.

Music

“Miserere” by Allergi – Beautiful piece written for two choirs.

“Agnus Dei” by Samuel Barber – Live performance of choral piece.

“Time” by Hans Zimmer – Cinematic music from the award-winning movie Inception

“Never Enough” by Loren Allred – Epic song from the musical The Greatest Showman.

Hallelujah Choir – Another memorable choir performances.

Speeches

Dropout Wisdom – Rick Rigsby delivers a powerful speech on his father’s teachings.

Dreams – Les Brown’s motivational speech on following your dreams.

Unbroken – Wise words on grit, resilience, and motivation.

The Greatest – Muhammad Ali Inspirational Video – Fan made video of the legendary boxer.

Test out some of the choices above and see what type of emotional responses you get. Don’t worry too much if you don’t experience aesthetic chills right away, everyone is different and the key is to find what stimuli work best for you.

Now let’s explore more ideas on how you can create aesthetic chills.

More Ideas on Creating Aesthetic Chills

Be open to experimenting with different activities to find what works. Here are a few quick suggestions for embracing emotional content that is more likely to elicit chills:

• Revisit music, films, or books from your childhood or distant past. The nostalgia will add an extra emotional layer to the experience.
• Listen to epic movie soundtracks, especially from films that you really love and inspire you.
• Draw from your role models in life. Choose one person and search for motivational speeches or interviews by them.
• Explore art and cultural exhibits, including online galleries that are freely available.
• Sit back and absorb a beautiful view such as on a beach, mountaintop, or skyscraper.
• Attend live events like concerts, sports games, movies, comedy, festivals, or dances (experiencing something collectively as a group can amplify emotions).
• Embrace synchronicities and the “random connections” you find in life.

Aesthetic chills can theoretically come from anything that creates a strong emotional response. How you experience something can be just as important as what you experience – even just an insightful idea or mind-blowing fact can create a physical buzz that ripples through our bodies.

Think about starting your own “Chills Database.” If a song, scene, quote, idea, or speech gives you the chills, write it down somewhere and save it. Over time you can build a long list of resources to revisit and go back to whenever you need a boost of energy and inspiration.

Enter your email to stay updated on new articles in self improvement: