Spring 2008 (Volume IV, Issue 4)
Let’s Play! Why We Need to Have More Fun
Research shows that play is essential to healthy social, emotional, and academic development, but kids today are doing less and less of it. This issue of Greater Good explores why play is so important—for kids and adults— and how we can bring it back.
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In Brief
Guest Column
Q&A
Features
Can We Play? (14)
By David Elkind | Spring 2008Play is essential to positive human development, but kids are playing less and less, says psychologist David Elkind. What can we do to build a new culture of play?
Games Animals Play (16)
By Lee Alan Dugatkin, Sarina Rodrigues | Spring 2008Animal play is serious business, say scientists Lee Alan Dugatkin and Sarina Rodrigues.
Confessions of an Anxious Parent (17)
By Jill Suttie | Spring 2008Are today’s parents afraid to let their kids play on their own? Jill Suttie tries to strike a balance between safety, freedom, and success.
The Wild Ones (18)
By Howard P. Chudacoff | Spring 2008Throughout American history, adults have tried to control children’s play. But Howard P. Chudacoff argues that in the end, the kids will always win.
Playing the Blame Game (19)
By Jeremy Adam Smith | Spring 2008Video games stand accused of causing obesity, violence, and lousy grades. But new research paints a surprisingly complicated and positive picture, reports Jeremy Adam smith.
With Friends Like These (21)
By Marjorie Taylor, Alison b. Shawber | Spring 2008It’s normal and healthy for children to have imaginary friends, explain Marjorie Taylor and Alison B. Shawber. But what do these friends say about the children who create them?
The Forgiveness Instinct (23)
By Michael E. McCullough | Spring 2008To understand the human potential for peace, we have to learn three simple truths about forgiveness and revenge.
The Postpartum Brain (24)
By Anna Abramson, Dawn Rouse | Spring 2008New research casts light on the depression and troubling thoughts many mothers experience after childbirth. And it may help erase some of the stigma they feel says Anna J. Abramson
Book Reviews
Digital Divides (25)
By Seeta Peña Gangadharan | Spring 2008A Review of Republic.com 2.0 and Digital Citizenship
Republic.com 2.0 By Cass Sunstein Princeton University Press, 2007, 272 pages
Digital Citizenship By Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert, and Ramona S. MCNeal The MIT Press, 2007, 272 pages
Book Review: How of Happiness (26)
By Christine Carter | Spring 2008By Sonja Lyubomirsky
The Penguin Press, 2007, 366 pages
Book Review: Forgive For love (27)
By Meera Lee Sethi | Spring 2008Forgive For love: The missing ingredient for a healthy and lasting relationship
By Fred Luskin
HarperOne, 2007, 240 pages
Book Review: The Path to Purpose (28)
By Dawn Friedman | Spring 2008The Path to Purpose: Helping our children find their calling in life
By William Damon
Free Press, 2008, 240 pages
Book Review: Giving (29)
By Leif Hass | Spring 2008Giving: How each of us can change the world
By Bill Clinton
Knopf, 2007, 256 pages
Ideas for the Greater Good
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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Rethinking Family Meetings
June 17, 2013 -
Death and Gratitude: Death Reflection Enhances Gratitude
June 14, 2013 -
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.
Greater Good 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.
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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
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Sponsors
Special thanks to
The Quality of Life Foundation for its support of the Greater Good Science Center
Daniel Goleman
Best-selling author,
Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence
(www.danielgoleman.info)
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