How to Overcome Your Reluctance to Ask for Help at Work
People are very generous—if you ask. Here's how to make a thoughtful request.| Greater Good
People are very generous—if you ask. Here's how to make a thoughtful request.| Greater Good
More and more people are turning to ChatGPT or other AI chatbots for advice and emotional support, and it’s easy to see why. Unlike a friend or a therapist, a chatbot is always available, listens to everything you have to say, and provides responses that are often thoughtful and validating. But confiding in chatbots can be risky. Many of these technologies are designed primarily to drive engagement, and may provide users with responses that are false or harmful. And unlike a friend or thera...| Greater Good
What happens when imagination meets perception, and ordinary objects come alive? We explore the science of pareidolia.| Greater Good
Growing up in Urbana, Ohio, in the ’70s, Beth Macy didn’t have things handed to her. Back then, her dad, seen as the town drunk, was a source of shame—as was being one of the poorest kids in her class. Despite all this, Macy (a journalist and author of Dopesick, adapted as a Peabody-winning Hulu series) was able to forge a different—and, for her, better—path. An ambitious student, she earned her college degree with the help of a Pell Grant. At the time, her mother made about $8,000 ...| Greater Good
When my two sons, now young adults, were in elementary school, on some days my wife and I were sure they were lying with completely straight faces when we interrogated them about the status of homework or chores or the shattered heirloom they were told never to touch. Then, before we could regroup, they were telling us about a new kid they befriended in school or any of a dozen other unexpected angelic deeds we assumed they would always be too self-centered to do. Yes, I’m exaggerating. Our...| Greater Good
Let’s play a word-association game. If I say “youth mental health,” what’s the next word that comes to mind? It’s probably “crisis.” For over a decade, researchers, policymakers, teachers, parents, and the media have been raising the alarm about the rising prevalence of anxiety, depression, and emotional distress among young people. Most alarmingly, the suicide rate among people aged 10–24 jumped 62% from 2007 through 2021, after remaining stable for a half-decade before that....| Greater Good
Despite how natural friendship can feel, people rarely stop to analyze it. How do you know when someone will make a good friend? When is it time to move on from a friendship? Oftentimes, people rely on gut intuitions to answer these kinds of questions. In psychology research, there’s no universally accepted definition of a friend. Traditionally, when psychologists have analyzed friendship, it’s often been through the lens of exchange. How much did that friend do for me? How much did I do ...| Greater Good
My mom is happiest each Thursday afternoon right after she’s gotten off her weekly Zoom call with a group of her oldest friends. I mean oldest in both ways—these women are in their late 70s and 80s, and oldest in the sense that they’ve been friends forever. This group once called themselves a journaling group but, decades in, shed the journals. Now it is part group therapy, part political discussion, part tech troubleshooting (my mom just taught the whole group how to get on the social ...| Greater Good
Dedicating a little time to tune into your body fortifies you to better handle the stresses of daily life.| Greater Good
In the fall of 2007, a 20-year-old student named Amanda Knox was studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, and living with three roommates. One was the British student Meredith Kercher. Only two months after she arrived, the unthinkable happened: Kercher was raped and murdered in the cottage where they all lived. Along with Raffaele Sollecito, a man who she’d been seeing romantically for only a week, Knox was accused of Kercher’s murder without any forensic evidence. The subsequent investigation...| Greater Good
We regularly interact with people across race and class lines, but those conversations sometimes go wrong. Lower-status people fear facing discrimination; higher-status people fear being accused of discrimination; most agree that microaggressions happen but disagree on what defines them. In a paper published in Psychological Science, Yale psychologist Wendy Berry Mendes observed how more and less affluent people interact. The results reveal a complicated picture of how our minds and bodies ma...| Greater Good
What is self-care? Before you think about your answer, let me clarify: I’m specifically asking what self-care is—not how do you take care of yourself? It’s amazing that an entire industry has built up around self-care—but from what I have seen, few ever try to define self-care. So what’s your answer? Did your response sound anything like: exercise, being in nature, or boundary setting? If so, you have just named ways we practice self-care—and what they all have in common is that t...| Greater Good
A philosopher suggests that we don't have to like each other in order to overcome polarization and work together.| Greater Good
Conflict between parents is inevitable—but it doesn’t have to hurt kids. Here’s how to turn a disagreement into a positive lesson.| Greater Good
We explore how embracing uncertainty enables us to move beyond climate anxiety and despair to hope and action, with author and activist Rebecca Solnit.| Greater Good
Boys get a lot of messages about masculinity and how to be men. Unfortunately, they often sound like this: “You act like a girl.” “Take it like a man.” “Don’t be a beta.” “Grow some balls” “Never let them see you cry.” Masculinity is often defined by dominance, stoicism, physical strength, and the ability to provide. It has, perhaps, been even more defined by what it is not: soft, sensitive, emotional, feminine, or “queer” in any way. For many men and boys, there is ...| Greater Good
It was a Words with Friends chat that first gave Megan Phelps-Roper pause. Along with much of her family, Phelps-Roper belonged to the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, a cult-like sect that spreads hateful messages about gay and transgender people. But in online conversations with her Words with Friends opponent, C.G., Phelps-Roper began to see the church through his eyes and recognize its cruelty, which led to still more questioning. “Little by little,” she wrote in her memoir, Unfollow...| Greater Good
Many students in higher education feel alone. They don’t know that everyone else is feeling the same fears—of failure, of disappointing their families, of not being enough. As educators, we balance course content with the added complexities students are bringing into the classroom. And we often do so without formal training in psychology, counseling, or crisis management. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. This past year, I made a point to focus on connecting with students by reframing my a...| Greater Good
One of my coping mechanisms for handling the second Trump presidency has been to read more conservatives. Though not just any conservatives. I’ve sought out those who are thoughtful, respectful, have clearly articulated ideas with a through line, and hold themselves to a standard of decency when it comes to the way they engage with the other side. (I hold my favorite writers and thinkers on the Left to the same standards.) As I wrote about recently, I wish we spoke more about how folks comm...| Greater Good
Every year, we invite staff and regular contributors to nominate TV series for Greater Goodies, the awards we give to stories that exemplify or illustrate kindness, community, empathy, and more keys to well-being. Here’s what we came up with this year: Chef’s Table, Dying for Sex, Forever, The Great British Baking Show, Loot, A Man on the Inside, Nobody Wants This, The Pitt, The Residence, Stick, and Supacell.The Food and Belonging Award: Chef’s Table (Netflix) The docuseries Chef’s T...| Greater Good
Zen and mindfulness teacher Henry Shukman guides us in a meditation that invites us to listen deeply and find clarity in quiet.| Greater Good
Our monthly Happiness Calendar is a day-by-day guide to well-being. This month, we hope it helps you make the world a little better. To open the clickable calendar, click on the image below. (Please note: If you are having trouble clicking on calendar links with the Chrome browser, try these tips to fix the issue or try a different browser.) {embed="happiness_calendar/subscribe"} View our other calendars! October 2025 Happiness Calendar for Educators| Greater Good
Our monthly Happiness Calendar for Educators is a day-by-day guide to building kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs. This month, foster a spirit of gratitude in your classroom and school community with daily tips from Greater Good Science Center. Want to explore gratitude more deeply with other educators working for the greater good? Consider joining our November community of practice, Building a Culture of Gratitude in Schools and Classrooms. You can learn more and sign up here. To...| Greater Good
Something isn’t working. Across the country, diversity programs are being dismantled and defunded, even as the need for racial justice grows more urgent. In this cultural moment, many people want to engage across differences—but many feel paralyzed, anxious, or unsure of where to begin. How can we talk about racial justice in a way that invites courage, builds connection, and gives people a path forward? In a study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, we found that when white ...| Greater Good
Lately, I’ve been avoiding phone calls and texting people more than I used to. I might prefer to pick up a phone, but then I think calling someone will interrupt their day and be an unwelcome intrusion. So, I figure it’s better to text. But, as one study found, we often overestimate how awkward a phone call will be and underestimate how much closer we’ll feel to someone if we call them versus text them—even if we prefer texting. As a coauthor of this study said, “When it comes to ma...| Greater Good
Learn why uncertainty fuels anxiety and how noticing our body’s stress signals can help us find calm.| Greater Good
Each year, the World Happiness Report attracts attention with rankings that label some countries as the “happiest” and others as the “unhappiest.” These lists often spark national pride, disappointment, debate, or even competition. However, while very informative, such rankings overlook an important point: They compare countries without considering differences in their starting conditions. To illustrate, consider two factories, one large and one small. The large factory produces more ...| Greater Good
A new book explains how facing mortality helps people figure out what matters most, providing life lessons for us all.| Greater Good
Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components, which he describes in a Greater Good essay, “Why Gratitude Is Good.” “First,” he writes, “it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.” In the second part of gratitude, he explains, “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge…| Greater Good
The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Contemporary researchers often differentiate between two types of empathy: “Affective empathy” refers to the sensations and feelings we get in response to others’ emotions; this can include mirroring what that person is feeling, or…| Greater Good
There’s nothing better for me than being immersed in nature. Whether I’m staring up into redwood trees, coming across a profusion of wildflowers, listening to ocean waves, or being mesmerized by a star-jeweled summer sky, I can’t help but feel awe, that wonder and sense of being part of something grander than myself. I’m not alone, either. People commonly experience awe in nature—so much so that researchers often expose people to nature in order to study awe’s effects on their wel...| Greater Good
It’s a warm, sunny weekday evening in July in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia. Inside the Creekside Community Recreation Centre—which overlooks the Vancouver skyline—a group of more than 20 people have gathered for one of Climate Cafe Vancouver’s events, coming together to create art that reflects their emotions about climate change and the climate future they envision. Climate Cafe Vancouver meets regularly throughout the Metro Vancouver area, offering a safe space and uniqu...| Greater Good
At the Greater Good Science Center, we cover the science of a meaningful life. That means learning and writing about gratitude, relationships, joy, and awe—and reading other media and new research about those topics and more. As a result, I thought I had a comprehensive view of the other journalists, researchers, change agents, and media makers working in these areas. But our new initiative on the science of love opened my eyes. We received a whopping 1,334 applications for grants about lov...| Greater Good
When was the last time you thought about your ancestors? This guided meditation by Indigenous scholar Yuria Celidwen will help you connect to your heritage and reap the potent benefits of remembering your roots.| Greater Good
In a time when corruption no longer hides its face and political violence is becoming routine, outrage has become the default language of public life. Equanimity may seem irrelevant—or, worse, complicit. What kind of person stays calm in the face of injustice? Who, in their right mind, resists the pull toward righteous indignation when world leaders violate every essential norm of human decency? And yet, I’d like to suggest something quietly radical: that equanimity, rightly understood, i...| Greater Good
What is your relationship with your emotions on a daily basis? Some of us might deny that we’re influenced by our feelings at all. Others might try to leave our emotions behind when we move into certain environments, like work or school. We may believe that particular emotions are “bad” or “negative”—and so aim to avoid them as much as possible. But according to Marc Brackett, founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of the new book Dealing with F...| Greater Good
Today, Marc Brackett is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. But he remembers what it was like to be a kid who struggled with his emotions. “I would sometimes just sit in a room and cry and catastrophize, like I’m never going to figure this out,” he recalls. He would think, “I don’t have anybody to talk to about it because I can’t talk about it, because people are going to think I’m weak.” In his latest book, Dealing with Feeling, Brackett share...| Greater Good
During my years as a Ph.D. student, I found myself for the first time in a familiar routine. For four years, my life settled into a predictable rhythm—weekly meetings with my supervisor, seminars to attend, research projects to juggle, students to teach. Even my personal life found its groove: Sunday apartment cleaning, Tuesday meal prep, Thursday laundry cycles. It was steady, purposeful work—not exciting, not stressful, just the consistent effort required to maintain my standing. I wasn...| Greater Good
Despite growing concern about climate change, many countries have seen backlashes against certain environmental policies, often because they are seen as costly, restrictive, or unfair. In France, an attempt to introduce a fuel tax was shelved after the yellow vests protests. In Germany, a proposed gas boiler ban was watered down after fierce resistance. And in the U.K., low-traffic neighborhoods have sparked strong opposition in some areas. Even non-existent measures, such as a proposed meat ...| Greater Good
To be honest, I’m not much of a joiner. I have a lot of great friends, but I don’t belong to many other social groups. I’m not on a sports team, nor do I attend a specific church or work for a particular charity. I guess my thought is that spreading myself thin that way might be bad for my well-being. New research suggests otherwise. A longitudinal study in Britain has found that people who belong to more groups—and, specifically, more varied types of groups—may be happier and healt...| Greater Good
Even just a few minutes of dancing can shift energy, release emotions, and remind us to care for ourselves while we care for others.| Greater Good
“I can do it myself!” That’s a phrase we typically associate with young children when they learn to get dressed and eat breakfast. Later, they might use it as they start riding a bike or reading a chapter book. But what does the question have to do with their spiritual development? A lot, it turns out. As children grow, they start to think and do more on their own, including in matters of spirituality and religion. “Religion” typically refers to the beliefs and practices associated ...| Greater Good
When Vivek Murthy was a child, he’d wake every morning filled with a deep sense of dread. He would get out of bed, get dressed, eat breakfast, and feel the tightness in his chest expand through his body as he sat in the backseat of his parents’ car on the way to elementary school. “I didn’t want to be alone on the playground,” Murthy says on the Greater Good Science Center’s Science of Happiness podcast. “Or alone when they asked people to partner up in class on exercises. And I...| Greater Good
In the face of the burnout and disconnection that both students and teachers are experiencing, being able to laugh and smile is essential.| Greater Good
A new study suggests that alone time can be a good thing, depending on why you pursue it.| Greater Good
A new study finds that when we witness kindness, we're inspired to be kind ourselves.| Greater Good
Robert Emmons explains how gratitude can not only make us happier but also improve our relationships and performance at work.| Greater Good
Instead of judgment and unreasonable expectations, what mothers need is love and care—from friends, partners, and each other.| Greater Good
A new book sheds light on how important friends are for our well-being and gives advice on how to cultivate more, deeper friendships.| Greater Good
Print this list for Mother’s Day—or for your next family dinner or gathering.| Greater Good
When your favorite mindfulness app says it’s based in science, check twice. Few actually are.| Greater Good
Imagine society as a ladder with 10 rungs. Where would you place yourself? That answer reflects your subjective social status—where you see yourself in society. Importantly, this is not necessarily reflective of where you actually are. Subjective social status matters as it shapes what you believe, how you behave, and, as my new study shows, how much you care about economic inequality. These days, economic inequality is hard to ignore. In the U.K., the richest 10% of households holds nearly...| Greater Good
Psychotherapy often explores family dynamics, unresolved trauma, developmental issues, and the unconscious conflicts that interfere with a client’s ability to optimally cope. Psychotherapy is practiced in many forms with many underlying theories of how change occurs. Self-knowledge and key insights can often unravel unhealthy patterns from the past. Disputing irrational thoughts can help clients reduce their emotional disturbance. And clients can increase their social-emotional IQ through t...| Greater Good
Through breath, compassion, and kind words to yourself, this guided meditation helps you forgive yourself, let go, and move forward with love.| Greater Good
Trust is essential to a functioning society. To get through life, we need to be able to basically trust people we love—our friends and family—as well as our neighbors, colleagues, and even people we don’t know well, like our grocers and mail carriers. A recent study highlights the importance of trust across our lifespan, showing how very critical it is for our well-being. Researchers analyzed results from nearly 500 studies involving over two and a half million participants of all ages ...| Greater Good
It’s a typical scenario. You’re faced with a lingering problem, like an argument with a friend, a looming deadline, or a difficult decision. You think you should try to tackle it, but all you really want to do is, well, anything else. In moments like these, we are often caught between two conflicting types of advice. On the one hand, we know we should “Face stress head on” and “Confront our fears.” On the other hand, aren’t we also often told to “Take some time for yourself”...| Greater Good
Our monthly Happiness Calendar is a day-by-day guide to well-being. This month, we hope it helps you celebrate growth and change. To open the clickable calendar, click on the image below. (Please note: If you are having trouble clicking on calendar links with the Chrome browser, try these tips to fix the issue or try a different browser.) {embed="happiness_calendar/subscribe"} View our other calendars! September 2025 Happiness Calendar for Educators September 2025 Happiness Calendar (Greek)| Greater Good
Our monthly Happiness Calendar for Educators is a day-by-day guide to building kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs. This month, cultivate empathy in yourself and your school community with daily tips from the Greater Good Science Center. Registration is now open for our 2025–2026 Greater Good Educators program! Join a community of educators from around the world who are committed to building kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs. Throughout the year, explore the science ...| Greater Good
When challenging student behavior arises, the instinct in many schools is to turn to discipline: assigning detention, suspension, or removal from class. But John Gasko, chief well-being officer at Uplift Education, has spent his career exploring a different option: What if the key to thriving schools lies not in control, but in connection? His work integrates both social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education, hoping to create the conditions for students and educators to flourish to...| Greater Good
Catastrophes, by definition, are devastating, but they can often be catalysts for lasting, positive change—and if people can adopt that perspective, they may see some real benefits, a Stanford-led study suggests. In a randomized, controlled trial, a one-hour intervention was given to a group of adults designed to shift their mindset, or core beliefs and assumptions, about having lived through a catastrophe like the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of seeing growth opportunities in the exper...| Greater Good
Research shows that simple practices such as self-hugs, soothing touch, and hand-to-heart can calm the nervous system, supporting caregivers and the children in their care.| Greater Good
In this guided meditation with poet and teacher Henry Shukman, learn how allowing discomfort, rather than resisting it, can open the door to greater calm and self-compassion.| Greater Good
Are you struggling to discover your purpose? That may be because you feel isolated from other people. Here's how you can overcome that.| Greater Good
A new study finds that some personality traits are fairly stable and others tend to change, helping us to mature over time.| Greater Good
A new study suggests that when it comes to relationship happiness, your own personality matters more than your partner’s.| Greater Good
A new study suggests that a sense of purpose may be more important to our longevity than life satisfaction.| Greater Good
If loneliness is an epidemic, governments can offer public health guidelines for connection—which is exactly what Canada is working on.| Greater Good
This month, put in the work for your relationships.| Greater Good
Music helped former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne come out of his shell and connect with others—and research shows he's not alone. We explore the science behind how music shapes our social lives.| Greater Good
A new book explores everything we think we know—and often get wrong—about having good conversations.| Greater Good
Research indicates that a variety of different social behaviors help prevent loneliness and foster a sense of community and belonging.| Greater Good
A new book explores the science of personality change and how to go about it, if you want to improve your life.| Greater Good
What Wrongfully Imprisoned Amanda Knox Can Teach Us About Forgiveness| Greater Good
If intimacy doesn't come naturally to you, new research suggests ways to improve your romantic relationships.| Greater Good
Need some motivation for practicing gratitude this Thanksgiving? Robert Emmons, the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude, reveals why gratitude is good for our bodies, our minds, and our relationships.| Greater Good
Compassion research is at a tipping point: Overwhelming evidence suggests compassion is good for our health and good for the world.| Greater Good
This month, guard against stress and overwhelm.| Greater Good
Your social environment—including factors like incentives, competition, and surveillance—can make you more or less creative.| Greater Good
The researchers behind the original "happiness pie chart" share what they've learned in the past 15 years.| Greater Good
Anger is a tool that helps us read and respond to upsetting social situations. But how can you stop it from getting out of hand?| Greater Good
We are spending more time indoors and online. But recent studies suggest that nature can help our brains and bodies to stay healthy.| Greater Good
A new study identifies 27 categories of emotion and shows how they blend together in our everyday experience.| Greater Good
New research is starting to explore how gratitude works to improve our mental health.| Greater Good
According to new research, people become happier over time after they start volunteering.| Greater Good
Research is discovering all the different ways that nature benefits our well-being, health, and relationships.| Greater Good
For children and adults alike, curiosity has been linked with psychological, emotional, social, and even health benefits.| Greater Good
