Here are the 20 best original Greater Good articles from the past year, as determined by a combination of reader popularity and staff votes.
1. What Inside Out 2 Reveals About the Diversity of Emotions, by Demond Hill Jr.: The new Pixar film explores adolescence by bringing its complicated feelings to life.
2. Six Misconceptions We Have About Romantic Love, by Sandra Langeslag: Research suggests that not everything you have heard or read about romantic love is true.
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3. Feeling Lost? Here Are Four Steps to Finding Your Path, by Jennifer Belus: There are times in life when we lose our direction. Here are some research-tested ways to figure out a way forward.
4. What’s the Real Reason People Become Homeless?, by Courtney E. Martin: A new book looks at why so much homelessness exists in the U.S. and what we can do as a society to reclaim our humanity.
5. Why People Quit Religion—and How They Find Meaning Again, by Daryl R. Van Tongeren: Studies are investigating the process of leaving religion and what a flourishing life after religion looks like.
6. How to Heal Anxious Attachment by Prioritizing Your Own Needs, by Judy Ho: People with anxious attachment fear rejection, often feeling like they are less worthy than others. Rediscovering your self and purpose can help.
7. When Is Divorce Good for Women, by Vicki Larson: Recent research and memoirs have a message: Ending bad marriages can dramatically improve women’s mental and even physical health.
8. Five Keys to Managing Intrusive Thoughts, by Jill Suttie: Stuck in rumination? Here are some ways to break the cycle and move forward.
9. How to Reboot After Disappointment at Work, by Julien C. Mirivel and Julie Allison: We can bounce back better from a disappointment if we pay more attention to our internal dialogue.
“Homelessness is a housing problem, but it is not only a housing problem. Aside from the lack of stable housing, relational poverty may in fact be the most universal characteristic of experiencing homelessness. ”
10. Twelve Movies That Can Help Us See the Best in Humanity, by Jeremy Adam Smith, Leila Rosenberg, Michelle Beadle Holder, Margaret Golden, Jill Suttie, Joanne Chen, Aurelia Santos, and Zaid Jilani: It’s time for the Greater Goodies, honoring movies from the past year that exemplify human strengths and virtues.
11. How Embracing Uncertainty Can Improve Your Life, by Jill Suttie: A new book argues that being unsure can help us learn, improve our Mental health, and reduce polarization.
12. Where Do We Go From Here?, by Kayla DeMonte, Mylien Duong, Carol Graham, Kurt Gray, Manu Meel, Eboo Patel, Scott Shigeoko, Linda R. Tropp, Jeremy Adam Smith: In the wake of the 2024 election, our contributors weigh in on what we can do now to preserve our well-being and our democracy.
13. Self-Care Can’t Fix Employee Burnout, by Shanna B. Tiayon: Burnout is not an individual problem but an organizational one, which calls for changes in a workplace’s structures, policies, and norms.
14. Should You Date Across Big Age Differences?, by Vicki Larson: Vicki Larson shares how two age-gap affairs changed her life—and the science behind relationships between much older and younger people.
15. How to Stop Overthinking Your Happiness, by Iris Mauss and Brett Q. Ford: The search for happiness can make you unhappy—but there is a research-tested solution.
16. What’s Driving Political Violence in America?, by Jeremy Adam Smith and Zaid Jilani: New research explores why political violence is rising—and what we can do to stop it.
17. Eight Ways You Can Feel More Hopeful—Even in Dark Times, by Jill Suttie: A new book makes the case that hope is the right response when we are facing difficulties in our lives.
18. Three Ways to Navigate Difficult Emotions, by Beth Kurland: We can soothe and care for ourselves when there’s a painful gap between the way things are and the way we want them to be.
19. How to Improve Your Memory for the Things That Matter, by Jill Suttie: A new book explains how our brains selectively remember and forget, and how to use that knowledge to our advantage.
20. Five Things Teens Wish You Knew About Them, by Eden Pontz: To allow teens to become the best adults they can be, family researcher Ellen Galinsky says we must reframe the way we view the teenage years.
Five more you might check out
Not every good article is popular enough to crack that top 20. Here are five more pieces our staff thought you should consider reading.
1. Ten TV Series That Highlight the Best in Humanity: 2024, by Jeremy Adam Smith, Cianna P. Stewart, Maryam Abdullah, Aakash Chowkase, Criss Cuervo: Our contributors award our annual “Greater Goodies” to the TV shows that can help you be your best self.
“Human flourishing never truly exists within a context of exploitation and oppression.
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2. Why It’s Good for You to Cry, by Jill Suttie: Research on crying helps explain why humans cry, as well as how it can improve our overall well-being.
3. Can Parenting Make You a Better Person?, by Elissa Strauss: Having children led Elissa Strauss to explore what it means to care, and whether we can expand the care we have for our kids to others.
4. A Short History of Black Happiness, by Mia Bay: What can African American history tell us about the cultivation of well-being?
5. Why Is Democracy Worth Defending?, by Jeremy Adam Smith: Here is the research-based case for majority rule and minority protections.
