Science & the Big Questions

There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve Been Missing

We find our greatest bliss in moments of “collective effervescence.”

The New York Times

Topics: Emotion Flourishing Happiness Meaning Purpose

The Other Side of Languishing Is Flourishing. Here’s How to Get There.

Research shows that the pandemic took a toll on our overall well-being and left many of us drained. Here are seven simple steps to get you thriving again.

The New York Times

Topics: Flourishing Gratitude Happiness Meaning Purpose

The Impact of Human Purpose on Resiliency

How human purpose shapes our individual lives and the world at large.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Meaning Purpose Resilience

How Spirituality Helps Us Thrive Personally and Relationally

A continued interview with Pamela King on spirituality’s role on our actions.

Hope+Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Meaning Purpose

Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?

As society gets richer, people chase the wrong things.

The Atlantic

Topics: Happiness Meaning Progress Purpose

National Well-Being Before and During the Pandemic

The toll of COVID-19 on flourishing.

Human Flourishing, Psychology Today

Topics: Flourishing Happiness Meaning Purpose Social Relationships

The Clocklike Regularity of Major Life Changes

Transitions feel like an abnormal disruption to life, but in fact they are a predictable and integral part of it.

The Atlantic

Topics: Happiness Meaning Purpose

Once Religious, Always Religious?

Meaning Making, Psychology Today

Topics: Meaning Religiosity Religious Change

3 Ways to Leverage Boredom and Change Your Life

Bored out of your mind? Here are three tricks to use that feeling to your advantage.

Inverse

Topics: Agency Meaning Purpose

In Defense of the Psychologically Rich Life

It involves complex mental engagement; a wide range of deep, intense emotions; and diverse, novel and interesting experiences.

Scientific American

Topics: Happiness Meaning

Does Happiness Change as People Get Older?

How does happiness change over the lifespan? What variables might influence how happy people are? And do changes in happiness vary around the world?

Character & Context, Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Topics: Aging Happiness Meaning

How Purpose Changes Across Your Lifetime

Purpose is not a destination, suggests research, but a journey and a practice.

Greater Good Magazine

Topics: Aging Meaning Purpose

How COVID-19 Could Inspire Us to a Better Future

COVID-19 created new ways of working together overnight, but as restrictions are eased, what we do now and what comes next matters.

Pursuit

Topics: Bonding Meaning Resilience

How Non-Religious Worldviews Provide Solace in Times of Crisis

With the number of declared ‘non-believers’ growing worldwide, researchers sought to discover what beliefs the irreligious turn to when times are tough.

The Conversation

Topics: Atheism Belief Coping Meaning

Healthy Dose of Religion

Regularly attending religious services associated with lower risk of deaths of despair, Chan School study says.

The Harvard Gazette

Topics: Death Hope Meaning Religiosity Resilience

Self-Actualizing in the 21st Century: A Q&A With Scott Barry Kaufman

In his newest book, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman updates Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs for the twenty-first century.

Behavioral Scientist

Topics: Meaning Purpose Scott Barry Kaufman

The Global Flourishing Study

Seeking input on the next critical steps in the study of well-being.