Science & the Big Questions

Featured

Mass Panic Is Unlikely, Even During a Pandemic

Topics: Altruism Cooperation Decision-Making Rationality Resilience Social Inequality

Featured

Why People Need Rituals, Especially in Times of Uncertainty

Topics: Belonging Bonding Resilience Ritual

Featured

How to Mix Compassion and Cooperation Into Social Distancing

Topics: Bonding Compassion Cooperation David DeSteno Emotion Gratitude Resilience

Featured

Social Distancing Prevents Infections, But It Can Have Unintended Consequences

Topics: Altruism Loneliness Optimism Resilience

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

Building and Enhancing Resilience Through Free Will

Research on the neuroscience behind free will helps us cultivate resiliency.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Decision-Making Free Will Resilience

Using Our Free Will to Become More Resilient

An interview with Alfred Mele on how free will can help us and others.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Free Will Resilience

Striving Towards the Virtue of Honesty

Christian Miller helps explain the behavioral and motivational sides of honesty.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Honesty Resilience

How God Works

PopTech 2020

Topics: Compassion Faith Resilience Ritual Spirituality

Finding Hope When Everything Feels Hopeless

The Wall Street Journal

Topics: Agency Emotion Hope Optimism Resilience

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

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

We Aren’t Selfish After All

In turbulent times, people go from “me” thinking to “we” thinking.

Nautilus

Topics: Cooperation Group Identity Resilience

Post-Traumatic Growth: Finding Meaning and Creativity in Adversity

Resilience and strength can often be attained through unexpected routes.

Beautiful Minds, Scientific American

Topics: Creativity Meaning Resilience Scott Barry Kaufman

On Coronavirus Lockdown? Look for Meaning, Not Happiness

Why cultivating “tragic optimism” will help us weather this crisis — and even grow from it.

The New York Times

Topics: Coping Happiness Hope Meaning Optimism Resilience

Extreme Rituals and Health: A Surprising Match

Participation in a bloody, dangerous, outrageously grueling religious ritual — at the height of the tropical summer, no less — somehow leads to more positive ratings on a measure that predicts all-around health with impressive accuracy.

Science on Religion

Topics: Coping Resilience Ritual Scientific Study of Religion

Research Shows Gratitude Has a Drastically Positive Impact

It’s a parent virtue of sorts — one that, when cultivated, gives rise to others.

Sojourners

Topics: David DeSteno Emotion Generosity Gratitude Honesty Resilience Self-Control

Do We Actually Grow From Adversity?

We like to think there’s a silver lining to tragedy — and this may be influencing both how studies on post-traumatic growth are constructed and how subjects are responding.

The Conversation

Topics: Resilience

Nostalgia Means Everything Old Can Be New Again

Nostalgia is this bittersweet — yet positive emotion — we feel when we harken back in time.

The Pulse, WHYY

Topics: Andrew Newberg Emotion Meaning Purpose Resilience

Is Ritual a Tool for Resilience?

The relationship between religion, ritual, and cultural resilience.

Science on Religion

Topics: Nature Religiosity Resilience Ritual Scientific Study of Religion

Releasing the Burden of Moral Injury

An interview with Brandon Griffin on moral pain and resilience.