According to researchers Reischer, Roth, Villarreal and McAdams (2020) in the Journal of Personality, self-transcendence “is the phenomenon of experiencing one’s self as expanding both backward and forward in time; a feeling of connectedness to all of humanity, the earth, and the cosmos; and a turn toward existential concerns such as the meaning of life and future death.”
They note further that self-transcendence is connected with positive outcomes: greater well-being, positive emotions, optimism, higher self-esteem, greater self-integration, and enhanced life purpose, and with lower depression and neuroticism. This post talks about stores of transcendence and the ingredients required to actually practice and achieve it.
