A Course Correction for Positive Psychology
By Jill Suttie | August 11, 2011A review of Martin Seligman’s latest book, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being.
Book Reviews
Most Recent Story
Mindfully Compassionate
By Jill Suttie | June 7, 2013A new book highlights how mindfulness can help improve social relationships and nurture compassion toward oneself and others.
Past Stories
The Good, the Bad, and the Brain
By Gregg Sparkman | August 3, 2011A review of Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality.
Social Science, with a Touch of Snark
By Jill Suttie | July 13, 2011Greater Good’s book review editor examines The Social Animal, by David Brooks.
From Evil to Empathy
By Jill Suttie | June 7, 2011A review of The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty.
Our Brains, Ourselves
By Jill Suttie | May 27, 2011A review of The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human
Feel Like You’re Too Busy to Breathe? Here’s Some Help
By Jill Suttie | May 3, 2011Two new books try to help us cultivate mindfulness, even in trying circumstances.
From Our Bookshelf: Changing the World, and Ourselves
By Jill Suttie | April 7, 2011A round-up of recent books: Join the Club and The Worry Solution.
From Our Bookshelf: Taking Compassion Offline
By Whitney Patterson | March 24, 2011A round-up of recent books on the effects new technologies have on our emotional lives.
A Call to Compassion
By Jill Suttie | March 10, 2011A review of Karen Armstrong's 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life.
A Peaceful End to the Battle of the Sexes
By Pelin Kesebir | January 20, 2011A review of Is There Anything Good about Men?: How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men.
From Our Bookshelf: Achieving Happiness and Peace of Mind
By Whitney Patterson | December 8, 2010A round-up of recent books on happiness and innovative approaches in therapy.
Two New Mindfulness Books
By Jill Suttie | October 4, 2010A review of Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness and The Mindful Child
Pleasure Principles
By Pelin Kesebir | September 20, 2010A review of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
Wonderfully Irrational
By Pelin Kesebir | August 10, 2010A review of The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
Beyond the Tipping Point
By Pelin Kesebir | June 30, 2010A review of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Most...
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Seven Paths to a Meaningful Life
May 28, 2013A giant in the field of social psychology draws on five decades of teaching and research to reveal the secrets of a fulfilling life to today's graduating seniors.
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How to Train the Compassionate Brain
May 23, 2013A new study finds that training in compassion makes us more altruistic—and explores the neuroscience behind why.
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Five Reasons Why It’s a Good Time to be a Dad
June 12, 2013Feeling fed up and burned out, Dad? That may be a sign of progress, says Jeremy Adam Smith.
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How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
June 19, 2013Tara Bennett-Goleman and Daniel Goleman explain the science behind "mind whispering"—a technique for overcoming self-defeating habits of mind.
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How to Make Giving Feel Good
June 18, 2013Studies show giving makes people happy, and happiness makes people give--but not always. Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton offer three ways to help people feel good about giving.
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Rethinking Family Meetings
June 17, 2013
Greater Good Events
Greater Good Summer Institute for Educators
University of California, Berkeley
Clark Kerr Campus
Friday, June 28 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013
» ALL EVENTS
University of California, Berkeley
Clark Kerr Campus
Friday, June 28 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013
The GGSC’s six-day Summer Institute will equip educators with social-emotional learning tools that will benefit both students and teachers. Registration is now closed.
» ALL EVENTS
Take a Greater Good Quiz!
How compassionate are you? How generous, grateful, or forgiving? Find out!
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Watch Greater Good Videos
Talks by inspiring speakers like Jon Kabat-Zinn, Dacher Keltner, and Barbara Fredrickson.
WatchGreater Good Resources
"Gratitude and Prosocial Behavior"
Finds that feeling gratitude produces kind and helpful behavior, even when that behavior is costly to the individual actor.
- "Compassion: An Evolutionary Analysis and Empirical Review"
Compassion evolved as a distinct affective experience whose function is to enable cooperation and protection of those who...
- "From Jerusalem to Jericho"
This article on bystander intervention in emergency situations suggests that we are likely to help a “shabbily dressed”...
- Center for Investigating Healthy Minds
The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, runs a state-of-the-art neuroscience...
- Northeast Foundation for Children
Northeast Foundation for Children is a non-profit educational organization that offers educators the Responsive Classroom...
- Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship
Based at the University of Michigan Business School, this is a networking community for researchers and practitioners...
Book of the Week
29 Gifts
Walker’s life is in a downward spiral until she takes unusual advice from a friend: to give away 29 gifts in 29 days.
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Special thanks to
The Quality of Life Foundation for its support of the Greater Good Science Center
"Greater Good offers a first-rate service to those who want to track new and important research findings in social and emotional intelligence."
Daniel Goleman
Best-selling author,
Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence
(www.danielgoleman.info)
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