When Melodies Unlock Memory Reservoirs
Candy Cohn often would speak with her late mother, Lillian, in English, with a few words here and there in Yiddish. Then, one day, Lillian "started singing a beautiful Yiddish love song called Sheyn Vi Di Levone. 'I'd never heard her sing it. I never heard her play it. The look on her face and the joy. I hadn't seen that in her in a long time,'" Candy Cohn described to WLRN Public Radio. ... posted on Mar 31 2024, 1,116 reads

Defining World Happiness
Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks 146 countries by their level of happiness. Scandinavian countries are usually found at the top of the ranks, while war-torn or deeply impoverished countries are generally at the bottom. In recent years, psychologists have been looking at how cultural bias affects these rankings. ... posted on Mar 26 2024, 1,031 reads

Daily Phrases from the World's Happiest Nation
Finland has been consistently ranked the globe's happiest nation for six consecutive years. In Finnish culture, happiness isn't flaunted; instead, the norm is to keep a low profile without ostentatious displays of wealth. Success isn't about surpassing others but about achieving personal contentment. Their secret? Embrace life's setbacks... posted on Mar 17 2024, 2,808 reads

Lost? Here's 4 Steps to Finding Your Path
There are moments in life when we lose our sense of direction. Whether you're faced with major life-changes, a sense of dissatisfaction, or simply feel the need for some self-reflection, UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center magazine outlines four research-backed steps to finding your path, with a focus on defining your values, identifying domains in life that matter the most to you, translati... posted on Feb 27 2024, 2,628 reads

3 Reasons Why You Need Anger
Feeling hot under the collar? This fresh take might cool you down: It turns out anger, often written off as a destructive emotion, could be an unlikely source of motivation. "Anger leads you towards responses that help you overcome obstacles," points out Heather Lench of Texas A&M University. Three surprising ways anger can actually be beneficial: it can help us reach challenging goals, may boost ... posted on Feb 12 2024, 2,102 reads

Why Meeting Another's Gaze Is So Powerful
You've done it at a job interview. When giving a presentation. While tucking in children at night. Or when sharing a meal with a loved one. The power of eye contact stretches far beyond cinematic romance. A growing body of research from psychologists and neuroscientists find that when we make eye contact with someone, our brains unconsciously kick into overdrive. During this seemingly simple human... posted on Jan 09 2024, 2,249 reads

It Turns Out We Were Born To Groove
Newborns are naturally jamming to their own beat, according to a groundbreaking research first conducted in 2009, which revealed that newborns can discern a beat in music. This musicality, far from being merely cultural, finds its roots deep within our biology and evolutionary history. However, the initial results sparked some skepticism, prompting the research group to revisit the study in 2015. ... posted on Jan 05 2024, 1,660 reads

66 Good News Stories You Didn't Hear About in 2023
Did you know a record number of countries eliminated diseases, from hepatitis C to malaria, this year? Or that a "staggering uptake" of wind and solar energy is making an enormous difference? The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced in October 2023 that global fossil fuel use may peak this year, two years earlier than predicted just 12 months ago. Trees are faring better, too, with 2023 def... posted on Jan 01 2024, 3,925 reads

10 Insights of 2023 from the Science of a Meaningful Life
Step into 2024 with fresh scientific insights on cultivating a meaningful life. The past year has brought forth intriguing studies on the power of compassion, kindness, gratitude, awe and intellectual humility. Merging cultural sensitivity into happiness measurement, academics have opened our perspective, challenging us to rethink our understanding of global happiness. Did you know your acts of ki... posted on Dec 19 2023, 4,484 reads

The Geography of Giving
Ever wonder how charitable the people are who live in your state or community? It turns out that lower-income people tend to donate a much bigger share of their discretionary incomes than wealthier people do. And rich people are more generous when they live among those who aren't so rich. That's according to a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which breaks charitable giving down by ZIP c... posted on Aug 22 2012, 5,789 reads