Systemic, structural change has always been a part of the perspective of the Greater Good Science Center. In a 2022 essay, editor Jeremy Adam Smith defines structural forces in the context of our work this way:
Slavery was a structural force, setting a stubborn pattern of social, cultural, economic, and interpersonal relationships between Black and white Americans that persists to this day. The family is a force structured by laws about marriage, divorce, taxes, reproductive health, children—and the power men have historically had over those laws. Your social network is a structure shaped by interactions with other structures: where you went to school, the work you do, your gender, your race, your religion—everything about you that connects you to others.
Structural forces are usually invisible to individuals, in day-to-day life; they’re something that becomes visible through study, concentration, and awareness. As is often the case with the weather, most of us generally don’t notice the laws and institutions that shape our lives until a storm of some kind blows in.
In that piece, he walks the reader through case studies of how social conditions and public policies substantially affected well-being in different populations. And through the years, we’ve published hundreds of research briefs, essays, and other kinds of articles that have explored how forces like economic inequality, racism, and sexism shape well-being. We’ve also looked at factors like urban planning, laws and government programs, workplace policies, and so on.
Almost all of these articles draw on sociology, economics, history, anthropology, and political science, as opposed to our usual beats of psychology and neuroscience. One of the upshots of this research is that you can in fact improve, sometimes dramatically, mental health and happiness through public and workplace policies—and it is debatably the case that these policies can do more to increase a society’s overall happiness than individual-level practices like meditation or gratitude practices.
That doesn’t mean your choices and practices don’t matter; in fact, they can matter a great deal to your personal well-being. Your genetic inheritance can play a role, as well. But research finds that those factors are always interacting with social reality to shape your well-being—and paying consistent attention to what social situations, structural forces, and public policies are most likely to bring out the best in people has been part of the mission of the Greater Good Science Center since its inception.
This gathering of articles is by no means comprehensive; for the sake of brevity, we’re skipping over many important issues and populations. We hope, however, that this page can serve as an introduction to structural well-being to all who want to understand how to maximize human happiness.
Click to jump to a section:
The Big Picture
- How Much Control Do You Have Over Your Own Happiness?: Social conditions and inequality affect well-being. So, why do we keep insisting “happiness is a choice”?
- There’s More to Flourishing Than Individual Tips: A new study suggests psychological tips aren’t enough. Policies need to address structural inequities so everyone can flourish.
- Can Government Policies Make Us Happier?: World happiness expert Richard Layard explains why policymakers need to focus on improving mental health and human relationships, not just the economy.
- Why Is Democracy Worth Defending?: Here is the research-based case for majority rule and minority protections.
- Seven Insights to Help You Make Sense of Gun Violence: Research can help us understand why guns are killing more Americans—and what we can do to stop it.
- Would More Social Justice Make You Happier?: A new study suggests that social and economic justice in your country play a large role in your happiness.
- What We Can Learn About Happiness from Iceland: Governmental psychologist Dóra Guðmundsdóttir explains what makes a society flourish.
- How Research Cuts Are Hurting the Science of a Meaningful Life: Everything we offer at Greater Good is based on scientific research. Now that work is being threatened.
How Economic and Workplace Policies Shape Well-Being
- Self-Care Won’t Fix Employee Burnout: Burnout is not an individual problem but an organizational one, which calls for changes in a workplace’s structures, policies, and norms.
- Will the Workweek Ever Get Shorter?: Why don’t you have enough free time? A historian looks at how work and leisure time have changed over the past century.
- Does Inequality Make Us Unhappy?: A new study suggests Americans’ happiness declines when there’s a wider gap between rich and poor.
- How Inequality Keeps People from Voting: Research suggests that more economic and racial equality means more voting—and more voting means more equality.
- Why Inequality Is Bad for the One Percent: What Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” video reveals about the links between inequality, compassion, and happiness.
Case study of a positive solution: Basic income
- What Is Basic Income and How Does It Support Well-Being?: Research suggests that providing everyone with money to live could reduce poverty and inequality, and help people make better life choices.
- Would Basic Income Make Us Happier?: How would a guaranteed minimum income affect our happiness, motivation, and sense of meaning in life?
- How Basic Income Programs Can Support Mental Health: Researchers explain how Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot affected people’s mental health—and what happened when it was canceled early.
How Urban Design and Environment Affect Well-Being
- Seven Ways to Make Cities Better for Mental Health: Urban design can affect the depression, anxiety, stress, and well-being of city dwellers.
- How Cities Can Help People Live Longer, Healthier Lives: A new study looks outside the home to see how children’s surroundings impact their cognitive and emotional development.
- How Alternative Housing Can Bring Us Happiness and Community: Nuclear families are no longer the norm in the United States. Could community living arrangements help us find the connection and support we crave?
- How Children Are Influenced by Their Neighborhoods: A new study looks outside the home to see how children’s surroundings impact their cognitive and emotional development.
- How to Build Cities That Aren’t Segregated by Income: Rich and poor are more separate in big cities than in smaller towns, but different urban design can help change that.
- Why Your Community Needs More Green Space: A new study finds that making vacant lots greener benefits the mental health of people living nearby.
- Four Ways Cities Could be More Inclusive for Mobility Challenges: Policymakers and experts need to go beyond minimum standards and examine how urban spaces continue to exclude people with disabilities.
How Social Forces Affect Caregivers, Children, and Families
- Which Workplace Policies Help Parents the Most?: New studies reveal how different policies affect parental well-being—and what obstacles we face in bringing them to America.
- How Paternity Leave Helps Dads and Babies Bond: Accessible paid paternity leave policies are an important way to take care of new dads so they can help their babies and families flourish.
- We Should Ask Less of Parents, Not More, to Help Children Thrive: To reduce inequality, says economist Nate Hilger, we should invest in programs that directly support children’s growth.
- Is There a Happiness Gender Gap?: Research suggests women today are unhappier than they’ve been in four decades, reports Jill Suttie. Why is that, and what can we do about it?
- Why Are So Many Female Doctors Burning Out?: Research suggests that women physicians are more likely to burn out than men. How can we close that gap?
- Four Ways Access to Abortion Improves Women’s Well-Being: Research suggests that women who can access abortions are healthier and happier—and have better relationships with their subsequent children.
- The Family Revolution: The last century has seen a transformation of marriage and family life. But to address new challenges, argues Stephanie Coontz, we can’t delude ourselves into thinking there ever was a Golden Age for couples and families.
How Policies and Social Conditions Shape Prejudice and Well-Being
- A Short History of Black Happiness: What can African American history tell us about the cultivation of well-being?
- Why Diversity Didn’t Save Tyre Nichols: The killing of Tyre Nichols complicates a common narrative: that the key to countering racism in our institutions is simply to diversify.
- Is Funding Police the Best Way to Keep Everyone Safe?: The call to “defund the police” may make sense, according to research. But to understand why, we need to go beyond the slogan.
- How Latino Small Businesses Are Helping Communities Flourish: Latinos are starting businesses at almost twice the rate of white entrepreneurs—creating employment, gathering spaces, and wealth for U.S. communities.
- Why Is COVID-19 Killing So Many Black Americans?: The answer, according to researchers, is racism. But the Black community is fighting back.
- Racism is Not a Mental Illness: Many people argue that the white man who killed nine Black people in Charleston must be mentally ill. What does the science suggest?
- People in More Diverse Countries Are Less Prejudiced: A new study finds that people in diverse communities feel a greater sense of commonality with others—and have greater well-being, too.
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