I was writing yet another article about how social disgust is triggered when we see people moving “down” on the vertical dimension of divinity. Suddenly it occurred to me that I had never really thought about the emotional reaction to seeing people move “up.” I had referred in passing to the feeling of being “uplifted,” but had never even wondered whether “uplift” is a real, honest-to-goodness emotion. I began to interrogate friends, family, and students: “When you see someone do a really good deed, do you feel something"? What exactly? Where in your body do you feel it? Does it make you want to do anything?” I found that most people had the same feelings I did, and the same difficulty articulating exactly what they were. People talked about an open, warm or glowing feeling. Some specifically mentioned the heart; others claimed they could not say where in their bodies they felt it, yet even as they were denying a specific location, their hands sometimes made a circular motion in front of the chest, fingers pointing inward as if to indicate something moving in the heart. Some people mentioned feelings of chills, or of choking up. Most said this feeling made them want to perform good deeds or become better in some way.

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Johnathan Haidt - The Happiness Hypothesis