Elevation is an emotion elicited by witnessing actual or imagined virtuous acts of remarkable moral goodness. It is experienced as a distinct feeling of warmth and expansion that is accompanied by appreciation and affection for the individual whose exceptional conduct is being observed. Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to, affiliate with, and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity.

Elevation can also be a deliberate act, characteristic habit, or virtue that is characterized by disdaining the trivial or undignified in favor of more exalted or noble themes. Henry David Thoreau recommended, for example that a person "read not the Times [but rather] read the Eternities" so that he "elevates his aim."

Elevation is defined as an emotional response to moral beauty. It is related to awe and wonder. It encompasses both the physical feelings and motivational effects that an individual experiences after witnessing acts of compassion or virtue.

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt also posits that elevation is the opposite of social disgust, which is the reaction to reading about or witnessing "any atrocious deed." Haidt insists that elevation is worth studying because we cannot fully understand human morality until we can explain how and why humans are so powerfully affected by the sight of strangers helping one another.

The goal of positive psychology is to bring about a balanced reappraisal of human nature and human potential. Positive psychologists are interested in understanding the motivations behind prosocial behavior in order to learn how to encourage individuals to help and care for each other. Thus, the field attempts to discern what causes individuals to act altruistically. While there is a great deal of research about individual acts of altruism, the amount of research done about a person's reaction to the altruism of others is surprisingly low. It is an oversight that Jonathan Haidt and others like him have striven to correct.

Haidt asserts that elevation elicits warm, pleasurable sensations in the chest, and it also motivates individuals to act more virtuously themselves. In his explanation of elevation, Haidt describes the three dimensions of social cognition:

Elevation exemplifies Barbara Fredrickson's broaden and build theory of positive emotions, which asserts that positive emotions expand an individual's scope of attention and cognition in the moment while also building resources for the future. Elevation makes an individual feel admiration for the altruist and also more motivated to help others. Elevation has the potential to spread by creating an upward helping spiral in which individuals view others doing good deeds and then feel an increased urge to help others.

Sara Algoe and Jonathan Haidt claim that elevation is in the "other-praising" family of emotions along with gratitude and admiration. These three emotions are positive reactions to witnessing the actions of exemplary others. The outcome of all three "other-praising" emotions is a focus on other people.