Featured Family & Couples Stories
-
Video: Dealing with Entitled Kids
Know some entitled brats? A regular gratitude practice could be just the ticket.
-
My Love-Hate Relationship with Mother’s Day
How we’re turning it into a kindness scavenger hunt.
-
Just One Thing: Give Them What They Want
Rick Hanson says that giving other people what they need will improve your life, not just their theirs.
-
Video: Why Your Happiness Matters
What will it take for you to lead a happy life?
-
Five Ways Giving Thanks Can Backfire
Most of the time, gratitude is good. But research finds that there are situations when "thank you" may be the wrong response.
-
April Raising Happiness Newsletter: Happy, Successful, & Kind
Parents frequently tell me that they just want their kids to be happy. More often, they act as though they just want their kids to be successful.
-
Three Quick Tips for Saving the Earth
Outsmart the brain boobie-traps that make you wasteful
-
Tips for Resilience in the Face of Horror
After the Boston Marathon explosions, we are inundated with horrific images of violence and suffering. Here's how to protect our kids--and ourselves--from vicarious trauma.
-
How to Deal with Mean People
Hint: Don’t just turn the other cheek.
-
Does Materialism Fuel Work-Life Conflict?
A new study says materialistic values can worsen conflict between family and work.
-
Three Things Immigrant Families Can Teach All Americans
Jeremy Adam Smith reports on new findings in family research, with a special focus on immigrants.
-
Helping Kids Delay Gratification
A new book explains how to help kids mature and improve their executive functioning… without relying on punishments.
-
Meditating with Kids
Want to teach kids a simple meditation? Here's how I do "loving-kindness" meditation.
-
Dealing with “Gratitude Resistors”
What to do when someone is raining on your gratitude parade
-
How to be a Happy Working Dad, Part Two
Jeremy Adam Smith offers five more tips to help men find a happy fit between paid work and family responsibilities.
-
I Don’t Care How Big the Market Is: Those Are My Daughters
Our 12 year olds think thong underwear makes them cool
-
How to be a Happy Working Dad, Part One
A new report finds that fitting work with family isn't just a women's issue. Jeremy Adam Smith offers 10 tips for helping fathers to navigate a changing landscape at home and on the job.
-
Influencing Teens and Tweeners, Part 2
Five more ways to get through to adolescents.
-
Why Mindful Parenting Works
One technique to put a little breathing room into your interaction with kids
-
Too Many Bullies
Emily Bazelon's new book explores bullying among kids—and finds the solution in fostering empathy among both kids and adults.
-
How to Influence Your Teen, Part 1
Ten ways to decrease their resistance to your wise advice.
- More Family & Couples Stories
-
What’s Good about Generation Y?
They've been called ungrateful, narcissistic, and entitled. But new research reveals the hopes, ideals, and positive qualities of today's young adults.
-
How to Deal with Mean People
Hint: Don’t just turn the other cheek.
-
When Are You Sacrificing Too Much in Your Relationship?
Close relationships require sacrifice. Here are seven questions to ask yourself before you give up too much.
-
How to be a Happy Working Dad, Part One
A new report finds that fitting work with family isn't just a women's issue. Jeremy Adam Smith offers 10 tips for helping fathers to navigate a changing landscape at home and on the job.
-
My Love-Hate Relationship with Mother’s Day
How we’re turning it into a kindness scavenger hunt.
-
I Don’t Care How Big the Market Is: Those Are My Daughters
Our 12 year olds think thong underwear makes them cool
-
Five Ways Giving Thanks Can Backfire
Most of the time, gratitude is good. But research finds that there are situations when "thank you" may be the wrong response.
-
How to Influence Your Teen, Part 1
Ten ways to decrease their resistance to your wise advice.
-
Greater Happiness in 5 Minutes a Day
How to teach kids loving-kindness meditation
-
Three Quick Tips for Saving the Earth
Outsmart the brain boobie-traps that make you wasteful
-
Are Video Games Truly Bad for Kids’ Health?
A recent study suggests the answer is more complicated than we think.
-
John Gottman on Trust and Betrayal
The nation's top marriage expert explains why trust is essential to couples and communities--and how we can build it.
-
How to Have a Happy Marriage in 21 Minutes
A recent study validates a simple task that might preserve marital satisfaction over the long haul.
-
Meditating with Kids
Want to teach kids a simple meditation? Here's how I do "loving-kindness" meditation.
-
Influencing Teens and Tweeners, Part 2
Five more ways to get through to adolescents.
-
10 Ways to Become More Grateful
Robert Emmons offers everyday tips for living a life of gratitude.
-
Hands On Research: The Science of Touch
Dacher Keltner explains how compassion is literally at our fingertips.
-
How to be a Happy Working Dad, Part Two
Jeremy Adam Smith offers five more tips to help men find a happy fit between paid work and family responsibilities.
-
How Love Grows in Your Body
Here are the places where romantic love abides in our bodies—and the role each one plays in sustaining love over time.
-
The Top 10 Strategies for Reducing Prejudice
To greet the new year, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton provides the best research-based tips for overcoming our differences.
-
Five Ways to Renew an Old Love
Love is fleeting, says one of the world's leading experts on positive emotion. But with practice, you can foster love anytime you wish—and in doing so, renew old bonds.
- More Family & Couples Stories
-
The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence
A new study suggests EI can be used for evil as well as good.
-
Greater Good Sex Tips for Guys
Jeremy Adam Smith offers three science-based sex tips for the emotionally intelligent gentleman.
-
Does SEL Make the Grade?
Fueled by new research, the social-emotional learning movement is building momentum. Is it enough to make American schools change their course?
-
How Has the Recession Affected Our Happiness?
A recent survey looks at the link between money and happiness during hard times.
-
Hands On Research: The Science of Touch
Dacher Keltner explains how compassion is literally at our fingertips.
-
How Love Grows in Your Body
Here are the places where romantic love abides in our bodies—and the role each one plays in sustaining love over time.
-
How to Get Dads Involved? It’s a Family Affair
If we want dad to be more engaged with his kids, we should focus on improving his relationship with mom, according to family experts Philip A. Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan.
-
Four Reminders of Human Strength and Goodness after Sandy Hook
Are people horrible? It's a question many Americans are asking ourselves after the horror of a school shooting.
-
Should Women Thank Men for Doing the Dishes?
Anne-Marie Slaughter’s “Having it All” essay in this month's The Atlantic raises important questions about men, women... and gratitude.
-
Are Video Games Truly Bad for Kids’ Health?
A recent study suggests the answer is more complicated than we think.
-
How to Make an Apology Work
A new study offers an important tip to anyone looking for forgiveness.
-
Lessons in Creativity from Caine’s Arcade
The latest viral video sensation is more than a portrait of a cute and creative kid. It's a guide to how we can nurture kids' imagination.
-
Emotionally Intelligent Kids Share More with Others
A new study suggests it's important to talk with young kids about emotions.
-
Does Sharing Come Naturally to Kids?
Believe it or not, a new study suggests young kids have a strong tendency to cooperate.
-
Four Ways to Encourage Kindness in Students
Back-to-school tips: Research-based steps teachers can take to prime their students for kindness.
-
When Are You Sacrificing Too Much in Your Relationship?
Close relationships require sacrifice. Here are seven questions to ask yourself before you give up too much.
-
Can Restorative Justice Keep Schools Safe?
How one big-city district cut suspensions and expulsions—and why they may rise again.
-
Six Ways to Boost Your “Habits of Helping”
Want to live a longer, healthier life? Stephen G. Post explains how to reap the benefits of practicing altruism.
-
What’s Good about Generation Y?
They've been called ungrateful, narcissistic, and entitled. But new research reveals the hopes, ideals, and positive qualities of today's young adults.
- More Family & Couples Stories
-
Hands On Research: The Science of Touch
Dacher Keltner explains how compassion is literally at our fingertips.
-
John Gottman on Trust and Betrayal
The nation's top marriage expert explains why trust is essential to couples and communities--and how we can build it.
-
10 Ways to Become More Grateful
Robert Emmons offers everyday tips for living a life of gratitude.
-
Why Gratitude Is 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.
-
Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Kids
In one troubled city, researchers and community members are working together to boost altruism among adolescents. What can their project teach other communities facing hard times?
-
The Perils of Colorblindness
Even well-intentioned teachers may hold unconscious racial biases, explains Dottie Blais. She offers research-based insights for fighting prejudice in the classroom.
-
Two New Mindfulness Books
A review of Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness and The Mindful Child
-
Five Ways to Renew an Old Love
Love is fleeting, says one of the world's leading experts on positive emotion. But with practice, you can foster love anytime you wish—and in doing so, renew old bonds.
-
How to Rebuild Trust
A recent study suggests that our beliefs about human nature strongly influence how trusting we are.
-
Four Ways to Encourage Kindness in Students
Back-to-school tips: Research-based steps teachers can take to prime their students for kindness.
-
What Gen Y Needs from Parents (and Why You Should Give It to Them)
New research says parental help for young adults is normal—and it may now be necessary.
-
How Love Grows in Your Body
Here are the places where romantic love abides in our bodies—and the role each one plays in sustaining love over time.
-
What’s Good about Generation Y?
They've been called ungrateful, narcissistic, and entitled. But new research reveals the hopes, ideals, and positive qualities of today's young adults.
-
When Are You Sacrificing Too Much in Your Relationship?
Close relationships require sacrifice. Here are seven questions to ask yourself before you give up too much.
-
The Wisdom of Babies
As Roots of Empathy gears up for its U.S. expansion, founder Mary Gordon reveals how the program has nurtured compassion around the world, one child at a time.
-
How to be a Happy Working Dad, Part One
A new report finds that fitting work with family isn't just a women's issue. Jeremy Adam Smith offers 10 tips for helping fathers to navigate a changing landscape at home and on the job.
-
Four Reminders of Human Strength and Goodness after Sandy Hook
Are people horrible? It's a question many Americans are asking ourselves after the horror of a school shooting.
-
Being Kind Makes Kids Happy
A new study is the first to show that kids get a happiness boost from sacrificing for others, suggesting our strong inclinations for altruism.
-
Six Ways to Boost Your “Habits of Helping”
Want to live a longer, healthier life? Stephen G. Post explains how to reap the benefits of practicing altruism.
-
The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence
A new study suggests EI can be used for evil as well as good.
-
How to Have a Happy Marriage in 21 Minutes
A recent study validates a simple task that might preserve marital satisfaction over the long haul.
- More Family & Couples Stories

































































