These are Greater Good's ten building blocks of individual and community well-being — the behaviors that research suggests will support your health and happiness, and foster positive connections with other people.
Altruism is when we act to promote someone else’s welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves. Though some believe that humans are…
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Are you a giver or a Grinch?
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Awe is the feeling we get in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world, like looking up at millions of…
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Could your life be more awe-some?
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Americans are increasingly divided along social and political lines. The evidence for this polarization can be found in our most intimate…
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Do you embrace a diversity of backgrounds and opinions in others?
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Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are…
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You might love your partner truly, madly, deeply. But do you love compassionately?
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For the Greater Good Science Center, “diversity” refers to both an obvious fact of human life—namely, that there are many different…
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How big is your circle of concern?
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The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense…
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How well do you feel and understand what others are feeling?
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Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person…
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When someone hurts you, are you more likely to turn the other cheek—or seek revenge?
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Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components, which he describes…
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Are you truly grateful for the good things in your life—or do you take them for granted?
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Most of us probably don’t believe we need a formal definition of happiness; we know it when we feel it, and we often use the term to…
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How happy are you when you’re on the clock?
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Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through…
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Do you savor life or let everyday stresses control you? In other words, how mindful are you?
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To psychologists, purpose is an abiding intention to achieve a long-term goal that is both personally meaningful and makes a positive mark on…
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Do you have a long-term goal that's meaningful to yourself and the world?
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When researchers refer to the concept of social connection, they mean the feeling that you belong to a group and generally feel close to…
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How strong are your social connections, online and off?
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