E2IATLAS: A Normative Database of Nature Images with Affective and Self-Transcendent Emotion Ratings
The paper introduces E2IATLAS, a comprehensive normative database of 3,161 nature images rated by over 2,000 global participants, which reveals a distinct three-factor emotional structure dominated by positive transcendence and identifies environmental distress imagery as a unique profile that elicits compassion despite negative valence.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of a preprint that has not been peer-reviewed. It is not medical advice. Do not make health decisions based on this content. Read full disclaimer
Imagine your brain is like a giant, high-tech radio. For decades, scientists trying to understand how we feel have mostly tuned into just two stations: "Good vs. Bad" (how much we like something) and "Calm vs. Hyped" (how much energy it gives us). This is like saying every song is either happy or sad, and fast or slow. But what if there are other stations broadcasting powerful feelings that don't fit those two simple categories? What if looking at a picture could make you feel a deep sense of connection to the universe, or a sudden urge to help a stranger, or a feeling of being tiny in the face of something huge? These are called "self-transcendent emotions." They are feelings that make you feel less like "me" and more like part of a bigger "we."
Why does this matter? Because right now, our planet is facing some serious trouble. We are worried about climate change, pollution, and losing nature. Scientists want to know: What kind of pictures of nature make people feel good enough to want to protect the planet? Do we just need pretty, happy pictures? Or do we need pictures that make us feel awe, gratitude, or even compassion for a suffering forest? To answer this, we need a massive library of nature photos that has been carefully tested by people all over the world to see exactly how they make us feel. Without this library, researchers are just guessing, picking random photos and hoping they work.
Enter the E2IATLAS. Think of this paper as the construction of the world's first giant, super-detailed map of how humans feel when they look at nature. The researchers didn't just look at 10 or 20 photos; they gathered 3,161 different nature pictures. These weren't just pretty sunsets; the collection included everything from pristine mountains and cute animals to polluted rivers and deforested lands. Then, they asked 2,092 people from 52 different countries to rate every single photo. But they didn't just ask, "Do you like this?" or "Is it exciting?" They asked six specific questions: How pleasant is it? How energizing? How much awe (that "whoa" feeling) does it give? How much compassion (caring for others)? How much connectedness (feeling part of nature)? And how much gratitude?
Here is what they found, and it changes the map:
1. The "Good vs. Bad" Map Was Too Simple
For a long time, scientists thought you could describe any emotion just by plotting it on a graph with "Pleasantness" on one side and "Energy" on the other. The E2IATLAS data suggests that map is missing huge chunks of territory. When they analyzed the ratings, the feelings didn't just split into "happy" and "energetic." Instead, they formed three distinct groups:
- The "Positive Transcendence" Group: This was the biggest cluster. It turned out that when people felt awe, connectedness, and gratitude, they almost always felt pleasant too. These four feelings travel together like a tight-knit band.
- The "Energy" Group: This was just arousal (how excited or calm you feel). Surprisingly, this was totally independent of the other feelings. A photo could be very calming (low energy) but still make you feel deeply connected.
- The "Compassion" Group: This was the most interesting surprise. Compassion (caring for suffering) didn't always travel with the "happy" feelings. You can look at a picture of a polluted river or a dying animal and feel very sad (low pleasantness) but very compassionate. This feeling is its own unique thing, not just "sadness."
2. The "Distress-Compassion" Secret
The researchers found a special group of photos that previous maps completely missed. They called this the "Distress-Compassion" profile. These were images of environmental disasters—like oil spills or burning forests. On a standard "Happy vs. Sad" map, these photos looked just like boring, neutral pictures of a gray wall or a concrete building. They were both "unpleasant" and "low energy." But the E2IATLAS showed they are totally different! The disaster photos made people feel high compassion, while the gray wall photos made people feel nothing. This means that if you only look at "happy vs. sad," you miss the fact that some sad pictures actually make people want to help, while others just make them tune out.
3. What You See Matters More Than How It Looks
The team also wanted to know: Is it the colors and shapes of the photo that make us feel these things, or is it the story the photo tells? They used computers to analyze the pixels (brightness, color, edges) and the content (how much sky, water, trees, or buildings are in the picture).
The result? The story wins. Knowing what is in the picture (e.g., "this is a forest" vs. "this is a city") predicted how people felt much better than just looking at the colors.
- The "Human" Factor: The single strongest thing that killed those "self-transcendent" feelings (awe, gratitude, connection) was the presence of human infrastructure. The more buildings, roads, and bridges you saw in a picture, the less likely people were to feel awe or gratitude. It's like a "transcendence suppressor."
- The "Water" Boost: Interestingly, water had a special power. Even after accounting for how nice the water looked, having water in the picture specifically boosted feelings of awe and connection more than other elements did.
4. Everyone Feels the Same, But Some Feel More
The researchers checked if people from different countries felt differently. They found that liking nature (the "pleasant" feeling) was almost the same for everyone, no matter where they lived. It seems we are all wired to find nature nice. However, the "self-transcendent" feelings (awe, gratitude, connection) varied a bit more. People from Africa, for example, reported slightly higher levels of these feelings than people from Europe. Also, there was a cool pattern: people living closer to the equator (lower latitudes) tended to feel more of these deep connections than people living closer to the poles. And while men and women felt nature was equally "nice," women tended to report slightly higher levels of awe, compassion, and connection.
The Bottom Line
The E2IATLAS is like a master key for scientists. Before this, if a researcher wanted to study how "awe" makes people want to save the planet, they had to guess which photos to use. Now, they have a database where they can pick a photo that is high in awe but low in sadness, or high in compassion but low in energy. They found that to truly understand how nature moves us, we have to look beyond just "happy" and "sad." We have to measure the feelings that make us feel small, connected, and caring. And the data suggests that to trigger those feelings, we need to show people nature that feels wild and untouched, because the moment we see a building, that special magic starts to fade.
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