Collective effervescence is a strong inner state of shared positive emotions.

It can be experienced and appreciated in everyday life.

Collective effervescence is associated with more life satisfaction.

For a moment, it seemed like everyone was watching the same thing. Classrooms paused their lessons. Families gathered around livestreams. Social media was inundated with images of a spacecraft in flight.

The mission was Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years. Described as marking a new “golden age of space travel” with millions of people sharing in a triumphant moment hailed as a rare unifying event.

What made Artemis II so powerful goes beyond its rarity and technical significance. The convergence of attention, emotion, and meaning created a state of what psychologists describe as collective effervescence.

What Is Collective Effervescence?

First defined by the sociologist Émile Durkheim in a religious context, collective effervescence describes a shared emotional state of arousal when people participate in the same social experience. More recently, it has also been described as a state of “perceived emotional synchrony.”

Elements of collective effervescence have been described to include:

Strong, shared positive emotions

A sense of engagement with something bigger than oneself

A feeling that a moment is meaningful or even transcendent

Based on these criteria, it’s easy to see why the Artemis II inspired collective inspiration. Millions watched the launch, flyby, and splashdown together with hope and excitement. It was framed as a continuation of humanity’s return to deep space. For many communities, it held additional symbolism by carrying Christina Koch, the first woman to travel around the Moon, and Victor Glover, the first black astronaut to journey around the Moon.

Researchers have tried to capture the phenomenon of collective effervescence through the 16-item Perceived Emotional Synchrony Scale (PES-S). Selected items from this scale include:

“We felt stronger emotions than those we normally feel.”

“We felt a strong shared emotion.”

“What we were as a group was more important than what we were as individuals.”

“We communicated without words.”

Collective Effervescence in Everyday Experience

Interestingly, it appears that collective effervescence doesn’t require rare, unusual, or intense events like a historical rocket launch to achieve. Studies have shown that it can emerge in ordinary moments.

Some studies found that some types of collective effervescence are surprisingly common. When asked to reflect on instances of collective effervescence, people named everyday experiences like:

Having coffee in a coffee shop and feeling connected to the people there

Waiting in line and sharing small talk with a stranger

Running a race with other runners

Watching a sporting event

Seeing a bad driver, and another driver sees it too

Up to three-quarters of people experienced this psychological phenomenon at least once a week, and a third of people nearly every day. Appreciation and awareness of this experience were also associated with positive life outcomes, such as a sense of social connection, greater meaning in life, awe, and life satisfaction.

So, collective effervescence is potentially a very common and positive human experience. Understanding and appreciating this phenomenon may elevate the experience of everyday life.

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