mood
37 articles
Why Trying New Things Together Keeps a Relationship Fresh
Doing small new things together is one of the best-evidenced ways to keep a relationship feeling alive. The self-expansion research, and a tiny weekly move.
How to Respond When Someone Shares Good News
How you respond when someone shares good news can deepen a relationship or quietly deflate it. Here is the research on active-constructive responding.
Why Old Friends Appreciate Hearing From You
Reaching out is appreciated more than senders expect. The research on why it still feels hard, and what actually makes people send the message.
Why Goals That Fit Your Values Go Further
Self-concordant goals, the ones you pursue for reasons of your own, go further and feel easier along the way. How to check the why behind a goal.
Why Inner Goals Lift Mood More Than Money or Fame
What the research on intrinsic versus extrinsic goals says about where lasting mood comes from, and how to tell which of your goals genuinely feed you.
Ikigai: The Science Behind Your Reason to Get Up
The research version of ikigai is warmer than the four-circle chart: your everyday reasons to get up, mostly small, and they track with real wellbeing.
What Dancing Does for Your Mood
Dancing holds its own against other exercise for your mood, and a one-song kitchen dance counts. Here is what the research shows.
Meaning in Life Is More Common Than You Think
Most people already feel their lives are meaningful, and your everyday mood is part of how you know. Here is what the research shows.
What Smiling Really Does to Your Mood
Does smiling make you happier? The honest research is small, real, and more interesting than the pen-in-teeth meme suggested.
The Science of Flow: Why Full Absorption Feels Best
Flow is the self-forgetful absorption that already lives in your favorite activities. Here is what the research says, and how to protect it.
Why Connecting With Your Future Self Helps You Today
The you of ten years from now can feel like a stranger. Closing that gap, even a little, tracks with more meaning in life. Here is the research.
What Growth Mindset Really Helps With
Growth mindset got oversold as a slogan. The honest research is more specific and more useful, especially as a way of reading a setback.
Does Laughter Actually Make You Happier?
Laughter is the best medicine is a cliche that points at something real. Here is what the research says about humor, levity, and a happier day.
Why Witnessing Kindness Moves and Inspires You
That warm, chest-swelling feeling when you see someone do good has a name: moral elevation. Here is the research, and why it makes you want to help.
Why Using a Strength in a New Way Lifts Your Mood
Most strengths advice stops at the quiz. The research lift comes from a different move: pick one strength you already have and use it in a new way.
Why Feeling Like You Matter Protects Your Wellbeing
Mattering is the felt sense that you are significant to others. Here is the research on why it tracks so closely with wellbeing, and how to grow it.
Why a Wandering Mind Isn't Always an Unhappy One
The famous finding said a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The honest update is kinder: where your mind drifts matters more than whether it drifts.
Savoring: How to Make a Good Moment Last
Savoring is the small, learnable skill of making a good moment last. Here is the research on savoring the moment, and gentle ways to practice it.
Why Reframing Stress Makes It Work For You
Stress is your body mobilizing, not malfunctioning. The research on reframing stress, the stress mindset, and how a small reframe changes the moment.
Temptation Bundling: Make a Habit Feel Like a Treat
Temptation bundling pairs a pleasure you love with a habit you avoid, so the pleasure carries the habit. Here is the research, and gentle ways to use it.
The Third Path to a Good Life: Psychological Richness
Beyond a happy life and a meaningful one, research points to a third: a psychologically rich life of varied, perspective-changing experiences.
Why a Consistent Bedtime Matters More Than Eight Hours
Consistent sleep and wake times predict mood and energy at least as strongly as how long you sleep. The research on sleep regularity, and how to build it.
Why Writing About Your Best Possible Future Works
Writing a few minutes about your best plausible future is one of the most-tested positive-psychology exercises, and it reliably lifts optimism.
Why a Five-Minute Sigh Beats Most Breathing Techniques
Five minutes a day of cyclic sighing beat other breathwork and a mindfulness control on mood in a head-to-head trial. The research, and how to do it.
Why Talking to Strangers Feels Better Than You Expect
A brief chat with a stranger reliably lifts mood and belonging, and most people predict the opposite. Here is the research on weak ties.
Why Time in Nature Quiets Your Mind
A short walk in a natural setting measurably drops the brain's rumination signature. Here is the fMRI-grade research and the small daily version that fits.
Why Naming a Feeling Takes the Edge Off It
Putting a feeling into words measurably calms the amygdala. The fMRI-grade brain science under 'name it to tame it,' plus what to actually do.
Why Big Wins Fade (and How to Make Them Last)
The lift from a big goal is real, and the research is honest about why it fades. Two empirically tested moves keep it lifting.
Why Motivation Follows Action, Not the Other Way Around
Action reliably produces motivation, not the other way around. The behavioral-activation research, and the smallest daily dose that uses it.
The Science of Daily Kindness: Why Helping Lifts You Too
Acts of kindness produce a measurable wellbeing lift in the giver, with effect sizes that hold up across 27 studies. Here is what the research actually shows.
Why One Kind Text Cheers You Both Up
Sending one kind text doesn't just lift the receiver. The research on emotional contagion shows it lifts you too, and turns sharing into a wellbeing tool.
Why Looking Forward to Something Makes You Happier
The wait for a birthday, wedding, or vacation isn't the warmup. The research on anticipation says it can be the part that delivers the most joy.
The Psychology of a Calm Home Screen
Your home screen shapes how you use your phone. Here is the research on why a calm, coherent layout (icons included) gets opened with more intention.
The Science of Micro-Celebrations: Why Small Wins Stick
Hitting a goal should feel like something. The research on micro-celebrations shows why the fist pump, not the finish line, is what installs a habit.
The Sunday Scaries: A Research-Backed Reset
The Sunday scaries are a real anticipatory-anxiety response, not imaginary dread. Here's the research, plus the short Sunday-evening reset that actually helps.
Why One Meaningful Photo Makes a Better Background
Nostalgia research shows a meaningful photo boosts mood, meaning, and social connectedness. Here's why one beloved photo beats any stock wallpaper.
The 60-Second Morning Routine That Actually Sticks
One positive quote, ten minutes of sunlight, a short walk. The habit science behind the minimum-viable morning routine that actually sticks.