Journal of Humanistic

Psychology
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The Phenomenology of Aesthetic Peak Experiences

Robert Panzarella
Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1980 20: 69
DOI: 10.1177/002216788002000105

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THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF
AESTHETIC PEAK EXPERIENCES
1

ROBERT PANZARELLA teaches at John Jay College of

Criminal Justice in New York City. He is a former f~~~ of
the Peace Research Group of the Max Planck Institute in Mu-
n~h. His teaching and research are concentrated mainly on ap-
plying social science to problems confronting police and fire
departments. He is also a habitu6 of The Art Students League
of New York where his interest is mostly in portrait painting.

SUMMARY

Descriptions of music and visual art peak experiences obtained from 103
persons were content analyzed and factor analyzed. Four phenomenological
factors emerged: renewal, motor-sensory, withdrawal, and fusion-emotional
experiences. Renewal experiences were more associated with visual art ac-
counts, and motor-sensory experiences with music accounts. Renewal factor
scores were positively correlated with measures of sensation seeking and

self-actualization, and withdrawal factor scores with measures of sociability

and differentiated self-perception. Factor scores were not related to respon-
dents’ age, sex, education, approval motive scores, visual art or music ability.
Both music and visual art experiences displayed temporal stages, starting with
cognitive responses and loss of self; climaxing with continued loss of self and
motor responses; and subsiding with emotional responses, self-transforma-
tions, and stimulus-specific responses. Among the effects attributed to aes-
thetic peak experiences were vivid and continually stimulating memories, en-
hanced appreciations, and permanent &dquo;total&dquo; effects involving more positive
self feelings as well as improved relationships with others and a boost of
optimism. The peak experience accounts mirrored conflicts in aesthetic
norms and suggested a greater role for individual differences in aesthetic
’

theories.

&dquo;Moments of highest happiness and fulfillment&dquo; -that was the definition

of peak experiences most acceptable to Maslow (1962, p. 69). This broad
definition allowed for peak experiences in response to practically any
stimulus. It also allowed for a range of experiences from &dquo;mild ecstasy&dquo; to

This article is based on a doctoral dissertation to which the reader is referred for further
1
details and amplifications: The phenomenology ofpeak experiences of music and visual art and
some personality correlates, University Microfilms No. 77-13, 856. The author especially

acknowledges the scholarly guidance of Alden E. Wessman, Gertrude Sehmeidler, and

Bernard S. Gorman.

J. Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 20, No. 1, Wmter 1980

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 70

excitements so overwhelming that Maslow thought an aging person might

not be able to endure them very often.
Picking up descriptions of peak experiences over a period of many
years, Maslow assembled a list of nineteen phenomenological character-
istics of such experiences. Each experience was thought to include all these
characteristics. Maslow acknowledged, &dquo;No subject reported the full syn-
drome. I have added together all the partial responses to make a ’perfect’
composite syndrome [1962, p. 67].&dquo; In Maslow’s omnibus phenomenology
perceptual and cognitive responses were given the most prominent places;
physical and emotional responses were given relatively little attention.
Clearer recognition of some phenomenological clusters, if not polar-
ities, emerged in Maslow’s last descriptions of peak experiences. Perhaps
somewhat influenced by Laski (1961), he came to the conclusion that peak
experiences transform the person only when they contain a cognitive
element, whereas mere &dquo;emotional bursts&dquo; do not (in Krippner, 1972, p.
115). As for physical reactions, Maslow noted that younger people re-
ported two different types, one of excitement and high tension, the other of
relaxation and stillness. He took these to be alternate possible reactions.
Hence, the &dquo;perfect&dquo; composite syndrome began subdividing into expe-
riences of dih‘erent kinds.
Maslow had begun with the conviction that people who have peak
experiences, whom he called peakers, are rare. Peaking was associated
with self-actualization, which he also considered rare, especially among
young people. For a study of self-actualizing persons Maslow had to
search far and long before finding a few appropriate subjects; a pool of
about 3,000 college students provided only one self-actualizing person
(Maslow, 1970). As time passed, however, Maslow learned that the way in
which people were asked about such experiences greatly influenced the
number of persons reporting them. Laski (1961), Otto (1967), Buchenholz
and Naumburg (1957), and others doing somewhat similar research also
discovered that the major problem was how to put the question.
Of the many stimuli, or triggers, which might evoke peak experiences,
the most frequently mentioned among Maslow’s subjects were sex and
music. In a speech to music teachers, Maslow (1971) contended not merely
that aesthetic stimuli can provoke peak experiences, but that peak expe-
riences should provide the norms for a new empirical aesthetics. He as-
serted that it is the power to evoke peak experiences that distinguishes
great art from the inconsequential.
This study of peak experiences can be seen as an extension of Maslow’s
investigations. Its principal purpose was to define more precisely in

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 71

phenomenological terms the nature of peak experiences. Along the way, it

tested for relationships between peak experiences and some personality
variables, especially self-actualization. In addition, this study aimed at
providing an experiential starting point for a psychology of aesthetics.
Practically every specialization within psychology has examined aesthetic
phenomena, but seldom with a phenomenological methodology (e.g. Csik-
s~~entnxih~.lyi3 1975).

METHOD
Extensive pilot studies were done to devise a questionnaire capable of
eliciting rather complete descriptions of peak experiences. The final ver-
simon asked the respondent to report an &dquo;intense joyous experience&dquo; of
listening to music or looking at visual art. First the respondent named or
described the aesthetic stimulus and told what the day had been like up to
the time when the experience occurred. To get a thorough report of the
experience itself, the questionnaire used repeated promptings set in a
temporal framework (for example, describe the beginning of the experi-
ence, the build-up, the most intense point). This framework was derived
from Buchenholz and Naumburg’s (1957) five-stage model of pleasurable
experiences.
The respondent also reported age, sex, educational background, and art
or music background, and completed a short form (M 1) of the Marlow-
Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972), the Existen-
fiahty Scale of Shostrom’s (1966) Personal Orientation Inventory, and a
22-item self-rating scale devised for this study. The self-rating scale was
refined psychometrically through pilot studies. Using a Likert format, it
asked about physical health and contained seven subscales of three items
each: ~rz) object perception (e.g., I notice right away when people wear new
clothes or change their hair style), ~b) self-perception (e.g., I am a complex
person difficult to describe in a few words), (c) sensation seeking, (d)
en~otion~lit~~ (e) cognitive activity, (e.g., I am good at solving puzzles and
problems), ~ motor activity, (g) sociability (e.g., I like parties). These
seven subscales corresponded to major categories in the content analysis.
Behind them lies the question of whether the dominant elements of a peak
experience reflect the dominant elements of personality (e.g., Do people
who rate themselves especially high on cognitive activity as a personality
trait also report peak experiences in which cognitive content predom-
inates~).
The questionnaire was administered on an individual basis. Respon-

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72

dents found it necessary to take the questionnaire and moll over ~, some-
times for weeks, before they could fifl it out. When the questionnaire was
returned, respondent were requested W participate in a follow-up inter-
view. Most respondents participated. In the interview the experience itself
was analyzed further and additional, far ranging questions about personal
and social dimensions of aesthetic experiences were discussed.

THE RESPONDENTS

Approximately 2000 persons in a variety of art galleries and concert

locations were individually invited to participate in the study. They were
given a City University telephone number to call if they were interested. In
addition, ads seeking participants were placed repeatedly in an arts-
oriented weekly with a circulation of a half nahon, although these ads
produced only seven respondents. Together these efforts initially pro-
duced about 100 people willing to participate in the study. Almost invar-
iably, these people led me to other potential respondents. Contacts
through acquaintance networks increased the number of people who
requested a. questionnaire to nearly 500. Yet three-quarters of those who
requested a questionnaire never responded any further, and some re-
sponded with incomplete or otherwise unusable protocols, (e.g., de-
scription of a peak experience of childbirth). What happened to so many
willing participants?
Whenever possible, I contacted them again. Their explanations, like
those of pilot study respondents before them, were never roundabout. All
did indeed have a history of intense joyous experiences. In all cases they
considered these experiences extremely valuable. It was the very value of
the experiences which led persons to renege on their initial agreement to
participate in the study.
There were those who would not and those who could not describe their
experiences. The unable were people who reported that they could not
adequately describe their experiences. The unwilling were people who felt
that describing the experiences would reduce them and inhibit their re-
currence. But those who answered the questionnaire later reported that it
had served to remind them of their capacity for such experiences and in
most cases had set off afterwaves of other peaks.
Eventually, completed protocols were received from a total of 103
respondents. Of these, 52 described visual art experiences, and 51 de-
scribed musical experiences. Among the visual art respondents, 45 re-
ported that they paint or do some other visual art work themselves.
Among the music respondents, 40 reported that they play a musical

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 73

instrument. Altogether only 18 respondents were appr~atc~rs but not

music or visual art producers. Females slightly outnumbered males in the
sample. Thirty visual art respondents and 27 music respondents were
female, making a total of 57 out of 103. Of the 18 respondents with no
music or visual art ability, 8 were female.

CONTENT ANALYSIS
A content analysis scoring manual was constructed on the basis of relevant
prior research, especially Laski’s (1961) study of escstasy, and refined
through the pilot studies for this investigation. The manual defined and
illustrated 11 basic response categories: (a) object descriptions, (b) self-
descriptions, (c) attentional responses, (d) sensations, (e) motar responses,
( f) emotions, (g) aesthetic judgments, (h) other cognitive responses, (i)
social response, ( j) motivational responses, and (~) commentaries on the
experience. Most of these categories could be scored in three dimensions:
presence of the phenomenon, loss of the phenomenon, and transforma-
tion of the response modality. For example, an aesthetic judgment might
be made, critical analysis might cease, or aesthetic judgment might be
altered in the experience. Due to small numbers of responses in some
dimensions, for statistical analyses all kinds of transformations were
combined into one category, and losses were grouped into only two cate-
gories, loss of self and all other losses.
Three independent judges scored the data, using the manual. Interjudge
rehabilities for sortings into discrete categories were computed as sug-
gested by Sandifer, Fleiss, and Green (1968) using the criterion of agree-
ment by at least two out of three judges. Gross reliability, based on
separate dimensions for all categories, was .95; net reliability, based on
categories after combining some for statistical analysis, was .98.

FACTOR ANALYSIS RESULTS

Principal components analysis with Varmiax rotation was applied to the

content analysis results in order to reveal major dimensions in the phe-
nomenology. Factor scores, too, were derived for use in relating the result-
ing factors to personality variables. The factors with eigenvalues greater
than I are presented in Table 1. The first can be called a &dquo;renewal ecstasy,&dquo;
the second a &dquo;motor-sensory ecstasy,&dquo; the third a &dquo;withdrawal ecstasy,&dquo;
and the fourth, when the loss of self is phrased positively as a merging of
self with the object of perception, a &dquo;fusion-emotional ecstasy.&dquo;
Although these four factors were statistically independent of one an-

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74

TABLE 1. Vanmax Factor Loadings of Peak Experience Phenomena

other, peak experience description consisted exclusively of the phe-

no
nomena of one factor. Overlap occurred in individual accounts. But most
accounts could be classified rather easily as belonging predominantly to
one of the four types on the basis of factor scores.

RENEWAL ECSTASY
The present renewal ecstasy factor resembled Laski’s (1961) &dquo;knowledge
ecstasies,&dquo; except that the cognitive component was much more empha-
sized in her descriptions. But her accounts were mostly of religious ex-
periences, and ecstasy is a more legitimate source of &dquo;enlightenment’&dquo; in
religion than in aesthetics or other areas of human interest.
Among the cognitions of religious ecstatics reported by other in-
vestigators are visions of the world in pristine splendor and of future uto-
pias. The present world is seen in need of transformation, which can be
achieved through moral striving. This study found that the aesthetic ec-
static also experiences an altered perception of the world. The aesthet-
ic view, too, is an &dquo;oVerbel~ef&dquo; or &dquo;myth&dquo; in Laski’s sense, but one not
trapped in the past or future. The aesthetic ecstatic claims this new vision
is a view of the world as it is, actually, now. The world is better, more
beautiful than had been thought before. It contains the tragic and flawed,

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 75

but this does not alter its goodness. It is at this point that ecstasy might
engender philosophy. But the experiences reported in this study contained
no impulse to reconcile the paradoxes which are the food of philosophers.
The ecstatic prefers to keep the paradoxes.
The motivational aspects of renewal ecstasies consisted primarily of
impulses to produce music or visual art. These impulses appeared only in
experiences of people who had music or visual art abilities. There was no
instance of an experience which converted a non-performer to a per-
former. Laski may have been right in separating ecstasy from inspiration,
at least in the cases of persons with no performing background. It may be
true, too, that the impulse to be creative is inherently antithetic to the
continuation of ecstatic enjoyment and terminates ecstasy in order to
initiate creative probing and testing.
Renewal ecstasy factor scores were positively related to visual art (in a
correlation with visual art coded as I and music as 0), r = .23, p .02, to =

exi~tentiality~ r = .20, p .04, and

=
to sensation seeking, r .20, p .04. = =

Neither renewal ecstasy nor any other type was related to a person’s age,
sex, education, approval motive score, visual art or music ability. The
renewal factor had the highest factor score for 38% of the visual art reports
and 14% of the music reports. For an example of a renewal ecstasy, here is
an account of an experience while looking at &dquo;light pastel colors, semi-
abstract paintings, the forms were indicated by coloring and had no
surrounding lines.&dquo;
Immediately I lost my tired feelings. I found the colors as something great,
profane; I experienced looking at the colors mainly in my thoughts. Except
for the moment that my tiredness was gone I was not further aware of my
body. I had the feeling of being more myself. I had the urge for activity. I
would have wanted to paint, instead I looked at more pictures. I felt light,
apart from regular, daily routine thinking. [Afterwards] I wanted to be alone
and recollect the colors I saw. Emotionally I felt more balanced, objective,
and I worked more easily.

And here is an account of listening to Ravel’s Bolero:

I was familiar with the particular piece of music so there were many feelings
of anxiety to hear the crescendos, great feelings of joy and laughter as the
piece repeated itself to the final point. I applauded each time the violins
intersected at their fierce pace. I was appreciative of the genius that made me
feel so beautiful and refreshed inside. Delighted that I’d shared again in the
experience of Ravel. [Afterwards] I wanted to talk about the feelings I’d felt
with someone else and I also felt my need to produce. Most music has a
complete effect on me; this particular experience with Ravel only adds to that
positiveness.

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76

MOTOR-SENSORY ECSTASY

Motor-sensory ecstasies consisted of physical responses and such quasi-

physical phenomena as feeling &dquo;high>’ and &dquo;floating7’ sensations. Physical
responses included alterations in body rhythms as well as changes in
posture or locomotion. These motor-sensory ecstasies were negatively
related to tmnsformational phenomena, r -.40, p =
.00 1.. Experiences
=

in which motor responses and sensations predominate are rarely described

as satisfying, ful~~ng, renewing, or the like. The heart beats faster or
slower, breathing quickens or subsides, perspiration increases, shivers and
chills and tinglings pass through the body without leaving traces behind.
Among the possible reasons why motor-sensory ecstasies generally do not
change the self may be the more active role of the self in producing the
movement responses, the short duration of the sensation responses, and
the tendency of physical reactions to be localized in distinct and less
valued parts of the organism from which the &dquo;self&dquo; remains somewhat
detached.
Motor-sensory elements predominated in 35% of the music reports and
19% of the visual art reports. Although it is not known why, it is universally
recognized that music begets movement. Here is an account of listening to
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
I turned on the radio at the beginning of the first movement. I was very happy
because I recognized it immediately. It was one of my favorites. I settled down
in a comfortable chair with a glass of orange juice. I felt relieved, somehow,
immediately. I anticipated the themes that were coming up. I &dquo;shadow con-
ducted&dquo; a bit. I was feeling more and more loose. I was diving into the music
and letting it surround me. I started singing along with the chorus. I got up
from my seat and walked about my room. I felt exhilarated, released, joyous.
I felt as if I were walking on air. My heart beat faster and I experienced a
&dquo;chill&dquo; in my spine. The symphony ended. I returned to relatively normal
almost immediately although I kept humming the themes of the fourth
movement for some time. I was not listening to the announcer’s voice. I
retained the relaxed feeling I had attained during the broadcast. Refreshed
and relaxed. I felt as if my problems had diminished considerably.

WITHDRAWAL ECSTASY
Withdrawal ecstasies involve loss of contact with both the physical and
social environment. A perceptual narrowing occurs; attention is riveted to
the aesthetic stimulus. The stimulus may remain distinct from the per-
ceiver ; a fusion between the two need not occur. Sensations are included
in this factor too. Withdrawal ecstasies are not especially tragic or cathartic

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 77

experiences. Experiences of tragic stimuli are just as often renewal, mo- °

tor-sensory, or fusion-emotional ecstasies.

Withdrawal ecstasies were equally common among music and visual
art reports; they added up to nearly one-fourth of all’the experiences re-
ported. They were correleated with scores on two self-rating scales: ,
sociability, r .20, p =.04, and differentiated self-perception, ~ = .19,
=

p =
.05. The kind of person who has this kind of experience is one who
enjoys the company of others but has the self image of a unique and
complex person. These traits are visible in the following description of a
person looking at a Matisse collage of a blue female silouette against a
white background.
Complete respect. The beauty of the form completely overpowered me. I
could not walk away from it. Its beauty brought me very close to tears. I
couldn’t speak (a friend had been speaking to me). My eyes followed every
curve of the work. Drained. After about one-half hour of not moving my
friends got quite impatient and began to leave. I almost desperately tried to
capture every detail in my mind and upon leaving ran back to see it again for
a minute. [Afterwards I was] extremely withdrawn from everyone. I felt very

moved; not joyous-more sadness.

FUSION-EMOTIONAL ECSTASY
Emotional responses were linked especially to fusion experiences rather
than being equally common to all types of experiences. Although ecstasies
which involve fusion with the stimulus were rated highest on a scale of
desirability by Laski (1961), accounts of such ecstasies in response to music
or visual art were not related to personality transformations. The fusion
ecstasies described by Laski were religious ones, and the experience they
encompassed was a fusion with deity. The experience of merging with an
aesthetic object does not have the same effects. Both of the respondents
quoted below were among the small number who answered no to the
question of whether their experiences had any long-lasting effects on
them. Fusion-emotional ecstasies represented 27% of the music accounts
and 17% of the visual art accounts. The first narrative below is an account
of listening to a symphony, the composer of which had been forgotten; the
second is an account of looking at a painting of Joan of Arc.
The only way I can describe it is as being at one with the music and not only
with the music but with the people, concert hall, etc. It was as if it were inside
me. I can’t remember any feeling but a sort of crazy joy. What happened
afterwards, I don’t remember. Quietly happy. It had no effect except that I
was in a good mood-contented.

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78

lt was a painting of Joan oI‘ Arc* I don~t recall the painter. But I remember that
I found it hard to believe that she wasn’t real. Her face struck me at first. I felt
pulled into it. I wanted to share the experience but it was so intensely personal
that it could not be shared. I felt a kind of private frustration. As the expe-
rience developed I moved or tried to move away from St. Joan to her sur-
roundings. But she almost walked out of the painting. It was as if she had
been waiting for me. I felt somehow spiritually tied to this work of art and was
very reticent to leave. I think I had selfish feelings as if the painting belonged
to me and no one else shared it unless they truly could become one with it.
At the same time I was certain no one else was capable of this but me.
What happened afterwards, I don’t know. I can’t remember. I think I felt
special, peaceful, for a short while. I was separated from those around me.

TEMPORAL STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

Since the peak experience reports had been written within a temporal
framework, the content analysis results could be analyzed to determine
the sequence of phenomena. Chi-square tests indicated significant dif-
ferences in the distribution of phenomena across three stages, the onset,
the climax, and the post-climactic stage. The differences between these
three stages were reliable regardless of whether the renewal, motor-sen-
sory, fusion-emotional dimension dominated an account. There is an
or

orderly temporal sequence to the ecstatic phenomena. Stages 1 and 2 were

rather similar for music and visual art accounts. But Stage 3 was charac-
terized by differences due to aesthetic mode as well as a greater range of
differences between individual respondents.

Stage 1 -

Cognitive phenomena were concentrated in the first stage. These consisted

of aesthetic judgments and analytical approaches to the triggers and also
disruptions of perceptual set, like surprise and amazement. In addition,
loss of self was concentrated at the beginning of the experiences, but it
extended through both the first and the second stages. The following
excerpts illustrate the onset of peak experiences.
It began with a general awareness of the quality of the music and reached its
peak at a particularly beautiful section, in which it preserved all the separate
elements that go into music as well constructed in themselves yet merging
perfectly to form a beautiful whole. This engendered extreme satisfaction. I
became less aware of my immediate surroundings and more immersed in the
music.

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 79

A friend had told me about this painting. In expectation of it I had presumed

it was a large canvas with a rather novel motif. When I saw it at first I was
surprised. It fuliilled none of my expectations. The painting invited me into
itself. It beckoned me to surrender, to be quiet, to enjoy. The reality of this
painting became a factual delight for me-a fact that increased my joy.
’

Stage 2
At the climax stage of the peak experience reports there was a loss or gain
of motor responses. These included locomotion, changes in posture, and
movements of distinct parts of the body, for example, opening of the
mouth, acceleration of heart beat or breathing, shivers. Foot or finger
tapping, shadow conducting, and walking around excitedly were common
responses to music. Visual art experiences often involved transfixiation.
Sometimes visual art experiences involved fantasied gross movements,
like flying. Motor responses might be increases or decreases in muscular
movements; it was the change in motor activity, not the motor responses
themselves, which was noteworthy.
In addition, the visual art accounts, but not the music experience ac-
counts, were characterized by losses of normal functioning beginning in
the second stage and extending into the third. These included loss of sense
of time, loss of spatial orientation, loss of reality testing, and loss of
sensations. Here are some prototypic climaxes.
I felt as though I could bear it no more, almost that I would leap from the
balcony.
I became aware of a feeling of elevation, as though my mind were not part of
my body but floating above it, in complete freedom. The music seemed to be
a force that could be felt moving through my body. My thoughts were very
free floating, although the sounds and vibrations of the music held my
attention. I was completely free.

Feeling of being transported into the landscape, of being surrdunded by

nature ~i.e., light, air, greenery, mountains). Could almost hear the wind
rustling the trees. Felt I could walk around the landscape. Probably the large
canvases contributed to the feeling that I was in the picture plane, not outside
’

looking in.
Seeming cessation of all sensual awareness other than sight. A feeling of
falling or reaching out or encompassing. I stood absolutely still, I think.
Stage 3
Emotional responses and transformations clustered at the end of music
and visual art experiences. That was also where social responses congre-

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80

gated in musical experiences and where sensations and motivational re-

sponses massed in visual art experiences. As peak experiences extend
through time, despite the short overall duration, the phenomena diversify.
Examples of music and visual art experience endings illustrate the lower
intensity but greater diversity of phenomena in this afterglow stage.
Calm, relaxation, quiet pleasure. Felt I was still in dream world. Hard to get
back to reality. Magic remained in memory as I went about house getting
dinner, etc.
Transported for a few minutes. A feeling of great good will--troubles and
cares were gone-everything seemed right and wonderful-a feeling of having
been in touch with something great and beautiful, yet not quite under-
standing it. There was a great feeling of being uplifted, ennobled-joy in hav-
ing stumbled onto the concert by accident, the richness of the experience, mar-
vel at how diferently I could feel so suddenly.
I was very calm, peaceful, satisfied feeling. Peaceful eft’ects~wantit1g to try
and paint in the same style.
I was aware. All my senses were top form and I just felt that I wanted to create,
to be able to express myself on those terms. I was happy, laughing, carrying on
with my friend-joking-it was like a relief.

EFFECTS ATTRIBUTED TO AESTHETIC PEAK EXPERIENCES

Long-lasting, usually permanent effects were attributed to their peak ex-

periences by 90% of the respondents. Twenty-seven told of an enduring
and vivid memory into which they sometimes retreat or from which they
still draw pleasure or inspiration. The memory revives, in part, the original
experience. It is somewhat like Warmoth’s (1965) description of the peak
experience as a personal myth. For instance:
It remains today and will probably endure to the end of my life as an indelibly
moving experience. It was a unique experience, and I still feel grateful for
having been fortunate enough to have participated in a historic, personal,
musical experience.
The renewal described ... is an ongoing process. The memories of these
events are a constant reminder of what can be done, and towards which one
must strive.

I often think of the experience with feelings of pleasure, and it conjures up a

fleeting impression of contentment, peace. I have since bought some books on
the subject of this particular school of painting.

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 81

Twenty-six respondents reported a lasting appreciation of the specific

music or visual art trigger, or its particular style, or of the individual artist,
composer, or performer. This appreciation did not necessarily hinge on
the belief that renewed contact with the trigger would renew the ecstatic
experience. Typical responses were:
I bought the opera. Play it constantly but never capture that moment again. I
love the opera dearly.

My estimation of Bernstein (as a conductor) is still much higher than it had

been before that concert.
An appreciation of Dinnerstein’s way of painting.
Have particular fondness for the picture. Have reproduction of it at home;
, have returned several times to see painting in its new Shellpuik room at
Phillips and watch others discover it.
I loved Cezanne.

A more general appreciation of music or visual art experiences was

reported by ten respondents. For these people the ecstatic experience
engendered overbeliefs about aesthetics. They recorded effects like these:
&dquo;Just a further reinforced appreciation of the uplifting capabilities of
musical composition.&dquo; &dquo;It probably served to reinforce my beliefs about
what the arts can do for one-how important they are.~’ &dquo;Only a deeper
conviction of the potential of the plastic experience.&dquo;
Twenty-one respondents said their experiences had some sort of &dquo;total&dquo;
effect on them, altering their self-appreciations, their relationships with
other people, their attitudes toward life or the world in general. This effect
was always in the positive, optimistic direction. Optimism is indeed a

widespread and lasting effect of many modes of ecstasy. What may be a bit
different about the optimism of these accounts is that it is an optimism of
the present, not a utopia-oriented optimism. Honor (19 1) has suggested
that present oriented optimism is characteristic of liberals and reformers
in contrast to the future-oriented optimism of radicals and revolutionaries.
Following are some examples of &dquo;total&dquo; effects.
Part of my joy was in having confirmation that I was capable of such strong
involvement and emotional flow, that I could free myself or be freed from
watching my feelings from a distance and judging them and reducing them.
The long range effects were to be more open with some of my friends and to
be happy about life and my relationships with other people.

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82

The efrects are now part of me and shall always be so. They ard what create
the person within me.
Smaller numbersof respondents described other effects, such as, altera-
~ons of aesthetic sensitivity thresholds, enhanced perception of everyday
reality, motivational effects, and rather long-lasting mood effects. Al-
though only renewal experiences were related to self-actualization as
tapped by the Existenfiahty scale and only withdrawal experiences were re-
lated to perception of oneself as a unique and complex person on the self-
rating scale, a wide range of effects from all types of experiences was re-
ported by the respondents in their peak experience narratives.

AESTHETIC EXPERIENCES AND THEORIES

Aesthetic theories create norms to which aesthetic experiences are ex-
pected to conform, at least in the cases of formally educated persons. Most
of the respondents in this study were well educated in their aesthetic
media. To some extent, their experiences can be regarded as a test of
aesthetic theories. But only a few major points will be noted here.
The triggers most often cited in these peak experience reports were
classical or &dquo;serious&dquo; music and &dquo;great&dquo; works of art ~e.g., Bach, Mozart,
Michelangelo). In only two cases were the visual art stimuli reproductions
rather than original works. However, the range of triggers was much
broader than many aesthetic theories permit and would have surprised
even Maslow (1971), who reported having accounts of peak experiences
from classical music and never from anything like an &dquo;abstract expres-
sionist kind of painting [p. 647].&dquo; Nine of the music experiences reported
in this study were triggered by popular music like folk songs and rock ’n
roll. Nine abstract art works were among the visual art stimuli. Even
trained musicians and artists are more liberal in their experiences than
might be expected considering their training in aesthetic norms.
When examined in terms of particular aesthetic theories, few accounts
supported any given theory. Extremely rare was any kind of symbolism for
psychoanalytic constructions. As Laski suggested, the use of metaphor or
symbolism in an ecstasy account is an indicator that the account is a
literary invention rather than a real experience in most cases. Cognitive-
perceptual theories like &dquo;form&dquo; theories, expectancy theory, game theory,
and gestalt approaches also fail to account for most experiences. In only 16
music experience reports was the composition of the music an important
factor. In 13 reports the crucial factor was performance skills; the com-

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 83

position itself was inconsequential compared to the way it was performed.

Eight reports were of responses to fragmentary items, such as, the cre-
scendos, the beat, the high note. Apart from operas, no music was expe-
rienced vehicle of communication for ideas or emotions in any of
as a
the accounts in this study. In opera experiences the emotion felt in re-
sponse performance qualities sometimes utterly contradicted the emo-
to
tion the music was attempting to convey. The number of cognitive-per-
ceptual responses in music reports was virtually equaled by the number of
sensations. Music is a more physical experience than most aesthetic the-
ories take into account.
Visual art reports also included large numbers of &dquo;fragmentary&dquo; re-
sponses to isolated elements of the works, like a color or a shape, although
there were seven responses to the compositional aspect of works. A potent
source of peak experience responses to visual art is illusions of reality or of
movement. Visual art, both abstract and representational, was a medium
of communication for ideas or feelings in 13 instances. In eight cases the
peak experience was essentially a feeling of identification with the artist,
compared to only two such cases among the music reports. Cognitive-
perceptual responses predominated in visual art accounts, despite the
favored place reserved for feelings in visual art appreciation norms.
The peak experience reports included narratives of artists and musi-
cians struggling during their aesthetic experiences to preserve traditional
aesthetic norms for their media. Artists trying to suppress intellectual
responses, and musicians trying to suppress physical and quasi-physical
reactions, resulted in statistically greater variances for cognitive responses
in visual art reports and for sensations in music reports. Photography has
co-opted the ideal of object representation in visual art, so that composi-
tion and meaning have become more important. Abstract art nurtures
more abstract responses. In music, on the other hand, the sensory qualities
of sounds have become more important. Interviews with musicians in this
study suggested that it has become rather common for musicians to use
drugs to enhance their perception of sounds while listening to music.
Listening under the influence of drugs also results in more fragmentary
listening. (Reports of experiences while under the influence of drugs were
not included in any of the data analyses in this study, although such
reports were received.) In short, the data of this study mirror the conflict of
historical change in the styles of music and visual art creation and appre-
ciation. Phenomenological reports portend what future values are being
molded by present experience..This study suggests that music is becoming
more sensory and visual art more intellectual.

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84

CONCLUSION
The phenomenology of aesthetic peak experiences can be viewed as a
three stage event with four major dimensions, any one of which may
predominate. There are phenomena particularly characteristic of the
onset stage, the climactic stage, and the post-climactic stage which Laksi
(1961) has appropriately named the &dquo;afterglow&dquo; stage. The sequence of
phenomena holds no matter whether the renewal, motor-sensory, with-
drawal, or fusion-emotional dimension predominates. The distinction
between experiences on the basis of which dimension predominates is of
more than academic interest, for there are significant correlates to these
dimensions. As Maslow (in Krippner, 1972) had discovered, some kinds of
experiences have greater impact on the person than others.
Accounts of peak experiences in response to other kinds of stimuli, such
as religion, cosmic, interpersonal, sex, and dance or sport experiences
were not reviewed in this article, but the typology of peak experiences
derived from the data of aesthetic experiences seems to be suitable for
accomodating peak experiences of all kinds. Some of the details, like a link
between cognitive and transformation responses, are already noted in
accounts of peak experiences triggered by meditation, nature, and
psychedelics. Fuller phenomenological accounts of peak experiences in
response to other kinds of stimuli are needed to test this hypothesis about
the universality of the phenomenological sequence and clusters.
There are indications that some of the phenomenology and the pro-
posed typology of peak experiences are related to personality differences
as well as to stimulus differences. Omitted from this report for brevity
sake are findings not related to the typology or aesthetic medium (e.g.,
social responses were significantly more frequent in males’ experiences
than in females&dquo; experiences; the range of effective peak experience trig-
gers for the individual was significantly correlated with the measure of
self-actualization). As far as the relationship between personality and the
typology of peak experiences is concerned, only the simplest of hypotheses
was tested and only in a cursory way. The hypothesis that peak expe-
riences mirror dominant aspects of everyday personality was tested with
only a short self-rating scale of personality traits. Renewal ecstasies were
significantly correlated with sensation seeking, and withdrawal ecstasies
with sociability and differentiated self-perception ~i.e., seeing oneself as
complex). But renewal experiences are highly cognitive, and withdrawal
experiences include withdrawal from other persons. If I were formulating
a new hypothesis at this point, it would be that peak experiences represent

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 85
all tUluua1 mode of fumtlonmg for the individual radw than an inteR&dquo; . .

of the petsoa*s usual mode of functioning. It is possible that--

:responses which are novel for the individual, if accepted rather than
fizared, may be what generate peak experiences.

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