What does it mean to feel small? Three dimensions of the small self

ABSTRACT

Despite growing interest in the “small self”, there is little clarity about what it means and how it should be measured. Three studies (N=922) identified three constructs: (1) self-size (metaphorical experiences of smallness), (2) vastness relative to the self (feeling the presence of something bigger than the self) and (3) self-perspective (feeling as though one’s day-to-day concerns are trivial in the big picture). Each dimension had a distinct psychological signature: self-perspective was associated with less ethical decision-making, perceived self-size shared negative correlations with self-esteem and collective identification, and vastness relative to the self was associated with high levels of self-esteem and collective identification. The data suggest that awareness of vaster forces represents psychological expansion (rather than shrinking) of the self.

KEYWORDS:

• Awe
• small self
• self-esteem
• self-transcendence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data and pre-registration documents are available on the Open Science Framework:

STUDY 2: https://osf.io/fmv6u/?view_only=038da4bf71d9488f96b306d1708ff21c

STUDY 3: osf.io/2bc4f

Ethical approval

The studies reported in this manuscript were approved by the UQ Human Research Ethics Committee (#2,018,002,375). All participants read an information sheet before consenting to complete the study on Prolific.

Notes

1. A coding error meant that we could only use half of this 16-item scale in Study 1, which may help account for the relatively low alpha. This error was corrected in Studies 2 and 3, in which the internal consistency of the narcissism scale was more satisfactory.

2. A construct that is distinct from smallness – but sometimes mentioned in the same breath – is humility. Humility is a view or opinion that one holds about the self in comparison to others and the world (Stellar et al., 2018). While there have been competing opinions about what defines this opinion, researchers now agree that humility is characterized by two core components: 1) an accurate view of the self, and 2) recognition and appreciation of others and outside forces (e.g., god and luck; Davis et al., 2010, 2011; Stellar et al., 2018; Tangney, 2000). In Studies 1 and 2, we measured the Global Humility component of the Relational Humility Scale (Davis et al., 2011). Self-esteem did not correlate with this measure in either study (Study 1: r = .03, p = .725; Study 2: r = .00, p = .973). We did not measure humility in Study 3.

3. We also conducted the PAF analysis on the 13 smallness items for each condition separately. In both the awe and the control conditions, three factors were extracted, and the pattern of loadings was the same as for the full sample.

4. Bai et al. (2017) argue that analyses relating to perceived self-size need to control for an individual’s actual size. To enable this, participants rated their height on a 7-point interval scale (ranging from 1 = 4ʹ5”- 4ʹ8” to 7 = 6ʹ9” – 7ʹ2”) and their weight on a 7-point interval scale (from 1 = less than 90lb to 7 = more than 291lb).

5. The pattern of results for the regressions – as well as for Studies 2 and 3 – remained the same after controlling for age and gender. For the record, there were weak and inconsistent effects of gender on the dimensions of smallness, and these effects were typically rendered non-significant after covarying out the control variables. The one exception was the fact that men (M = 4.89) were higher on self-perspective than women (M = 4.48) in Study 3, an effect that remained significant after covarying out the control variables (p = .007). Age shared a modest positive correlation with vastness in Study 1 (r = .14, p = .045), and a negative correlation with self-size in Study 2 (r = −.20, p < .001) and Study 3 (r = −.15, p = .004). All other correlations with age were non-significant.