Up speeds you down. Awe-evoking monumental buildings trigger behavioral and perceived freezing

Since the dawn of large-scale civilizations, humans have built exceptionally tall architectural structures. We tested whether exposing individuals to images of very tall buildings would produce feelings of awe in them, and would lead to a behavioral response frequently associated with this emotion, namely “freezing”. Across four studies participants reported to feel more awestruck (Pilot 1a, Study 1a) and more bodily immobile after having seen pictures of high versus low buildings (Study 1b). In addition to perceived immobility, we also found that participants responded slower on a manual clicking task in the face of high as opposed to low buildings (Pilot 1b, Study 1b). This effect was mediated by perceived bodily immobility, suggesting that slow clicking after seeing high buildings indeed reflected behavioral freezing. Overall, our findings suggest that very tall buildings can be a trigger of awe, and that experiencing this emotion can involve a state of behavioral freezing.