Millions of people will gather with family and friends this week to celebrate what may be one of the most quintessential American holidays: Thanksgiving. For many people, the holiday revolves around turkey, football, and the start of the holiday shopping season. Although those traditions are fun, research shows there are major benefits to remembering the sentiment that goes along with the season: gratitude. [Read more…]
How Gratitude Strengthens Relationships
December 4, 2023 By
Loneliness Harms Your Health
July 28, 2023 By
A broad new analysis published in the journal Nature Human Behavior demonstrates that social isolation and loneliness can lead to premature death. [Read more…]
Acquaintances Are Good for You
June 7, 2023 By
Throughout a normal week, you may chat with a delivery driver who stops at your home, strike up a conversation with the person you always see at the gym, or trade recipes with an acquaintance from the dog park. [Read more…]
The Science of Forgiveness and Why It’s Good For You
May 23, 2023 By
Unfortunately, injustice and wrongdoing are part of everyday life. Whether you experience someone cutting to the front of the line at the grocery store or you are the victim of a serious crime, transgression is a part of the human experience. [Read more…]
The Secret to a Happy, Healthy Life
March 25, 2023 By
What makes a happy life? In some ways, this feels like one of the most important questions a person can ask.
To look for answers, researchers from Harvard University have been following two very different groups of men for more than 80 years—268 Harvard graduates and 456 men who grew up in inner-city Boston. This is the longest-running study ever of human life. Researchers were particularly interested in the social and psychological factors that impact health and well-being in later in life. [Read more…]
Build Intimacy: 36 Questions for Romance
February 22, 2023 By
Valentine’s Day began as the Christian feast of St. Valentine in the eighth century and has been celebrated continuously in some way ever since. In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines were sold in the 1840s by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, whose father ran a bookstore. [Read more…]
How Racism Affects the Relationships of African-American Couples
January 27, 2023 By
Research clearly establishes that racism takes a toll on the mental and physical health of African-Americans. This occurs because racist interactions elicit an automatic physical stress reaction that includes increased heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure, along with a release of stress hormones. This stress response, often referred to as the flight-or-flight response, leads to inflammatory reactions in the body. [Read more…]
