Dispositional Awe and Self-Worth in Chinese Undergraduates: The Suppressing Effects of Self-Concept Clarity and Small Self

Background: The positive role of dispositional awe has been seen in personality and in health. However, its impact on self-worth and internal mechanisms have been unclear. Purposes: This study explored the relationship between dispositional awe and self-worth and the roles of self-concept clarity and the small self in this association. Methods: With a cluster sampling, a cross-sectional sample of 1888 Chinese undergraduates were recruited from Fuzhou, a southeast coastal city in the P.R.C. All the data were analyzed with Pearson’s correlations and the structural equation model (SEM) based on SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 8.1. Results: Dispositional awe was positively correlated with both personal-oriented and social-oriented self-worth (r(s) = 0.12, 0.27) and was also positively correlated with small self (r = 0.33) but negatively correlated with self-concept clarity (r = −0.18); in the full model, the direct effect of dispositional awe on society-oriented self-worth was 0.36 (75%); the indirect effects of small self and self-concept clarity were −0.09 (18.8%) and −0.01 (2.1%), respectively; and the chain indirect effect was −0.02 (4.2%). Similarly, the direct effect of dispositional awe on person-oriented self-worth was 0.50 (83.3%); the indirect effects of small self and self-concept clarity were −0.07 (11.7%) and −0.01 (1.7%), respectively; and the chain indirect effect was −0.02 (3.3%); all the indirect effects were suppressing effects, for they were contrary to the direct effects. Conclusion: This study suggested that dispositional awe could help people better understand themselves and enhance their sense of self-worth.