<p>In this study, we focused on the antagonism between self-enhancement and self-transcendence in the motivational orientation of personal values. Since self-enhancement drives aggression, we propose that the self-transcendence function of awe inhibits aggression via the small self. First, we examined whether dispositional awe is associated with aggressive tendencies (Study 1a). Since a correlation analysis cannot reveal the cause and effect, Study 1b divided dispositional awe scores from Study 1a into high and low groups to further demonstrate the causality between dispositional awe and aggression through a more rigorous experimental control method, and the mediating effect of the small self. In Study 2, we used natural landscapes video clips to induce the emotion of situational awe. We tested the causal effect of momentary feeling of situational awe on aggression and the mediating role of the small self. Results showed that individuals higher in dispositional awe exhibited lower aggressive tendencies (Study 1a). Participants in high dispositional awe group tended to exhibit less aggression compared with those in low dispositional awe group, and the small self mediated the effect (Study 1b). Participants in experimentally inducing situational awe conditions were less aggressive than in the neutral condition, and the sense of small self accounted for the effects of situational awe on aggression. (Study 2). As a whole, results of these three studies supported our hypothesis that the experience of awe will trigger a sense of a small self and, in turn, lead to less aggression.</p>