Psychological Scientist, Author, and host of PRX podcast How God Works (www.howgodworks.org). Studying the Science of Emotion, Morality, & Religion.
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Articles by David DeSteno
Forgiveness Is a Gift to Us All
Yom Kippur, The Jewish day of atonement, reminds us that when we don't forgive, we punish ourselves.
People of faith are finding a new moral guide in AI
People of faith are finding a new moral guide in AI (washingtonpost.com) People of faith are finding a new moral guide in AI By David DeSteno 2026071715470100 Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the way we get information. If you have questions about the factors that underlie a medical diagnosis or how best to invest your savings, asking an AI chatbot for guidance can give you quick, easy and often surprisingly accurate information in a conversational form.
Anthropic Wants Claude to Be Moral. Is Religion Really the Answer?
In a public statement of its intentions for its Claude chatbot, the artificial intelligence company Anthropic has said that it wants Claude to be “a genuinely good, wise and virtuous agent.” The company raised the moral stakes this month, when it announced that its latest A.I. model, Claude Mythos Preview, poses too great a cybersecurity threat to be widely released.
For 2026, there’s a better way to be hopeful
As we look ahead to the new year, hope seems to be in short supply. Recent surveys have found that sizable majorities of Americans believed the United States was on track to become economically weaker and more politically divided, nearly 80 per cent did not expect their children’s lives to be any better than theirs and more than half feared we would make little progress in dealing with major global challenges such as climate change over the next few decades. This lack of hope is ominous.
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. As we look ahead to the new year, hope seems to be in short supply.
Essay | The Power of Prayer After a Mass Shooting
When innocents are murdered, calls for prayer may seem useless, but it’s one of our best tools for overcoming grief and fear. What good is prayer? It’s a question many are asking after Sunday’s mass shooting at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Grand Blanc, Mich. And it’s easy to see why. The phrase “thoughts and prayers,” and little else, is offered by many in response to shootings.
Science & Health Benefits of Belief in God & Religion | Dr. David DeSteno
[Andrew Huberman] Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. [Andrew Huberman] I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. David DeSteno. Dr. David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, and an expert on the science of morality, religion, and the health benefits of belief in God and religion.
Is Empathy for Immigrants a Sin?
Is empathy a sin? Right now, if you’re a Christian, your head might be spinning a bit. Maybe not over whether empathy in general is a sin, but perhaps over who God thinks deserves it, and by extension, to whom you should extend it. The current kerfuffle centers squarely on issues surrounding illegal immigrants.
Pascal’s Wager: An Update
As the people said to Moses in the book of Exodus when he was instructing them in faith, “na’aseh v’nishma”: We will do and then we will understand. That change in belief might come from experiencing benefits you didn’t expect, but it also reveals a basic truth about the mind. As much psychological research over the past sixty years has demonstrated, people’s beliefs will change to match their actions. Should you believe in God? For many people, belief is a matter of faith.
Pascal’s Wager: An Update | David DeSteno
Should you believe in God? For many people, belief is a matter of faith. But let’s say you didn’t grow up with a religion, or you fell away from religion, and now are wondering whether that was the right choice. Is there a way to approach the question with reasoned analysis, as you would any other major decision? A rational way to optimize your costs and benefits? It might seem a strange question.
Pascal’s Wager: An Update
Should you believe in God? For many people, belief is a matter of faith. But let’s say you didn’t grow up with a religion, or you fell away from religion, and now are wondering whether that was the right choice. Is there a way to approach the question with reasoned analysis, as you would any other major decision? A rational way to optimize your costs and benefits? It might seem a strange question.
Essay | You Don’t Have to Be Religious to Feel the Awe of Christmas
You Don’t Have to Be Religious to Feel the Awe of Christmas - WSJ
Rosh Hashana Can Change Your Life (Even if You’re Not Jewish)
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Essay | Is Religion Good for Your Health?
Is religion a medicine for what ails us? If we’re talking about physical and mental health, the answer has been difficult to come by. Large-scale studies have consistently shown a strong association between being religious and good health. For example, a paper published by Mayo Clinic researchers in 2001 found that people who regularly attend religious services tend to have lower rates of mortality and hospital admissions in any given period, as well as better cardiovascular function.
Essay | Is Religion Good for Your Health?
Is religion a medicine for what ails us? If we’re talking about physical and mental health, the answer has been difficult to come by. Large-scale studies have consistently shown a strong association between being religious and good health. For example, a paper published by Mayo Clinic researchers in 2001 found that people who regularly attend religious services tend to have lower rates of mortality and hospital admissions in any given period, as well as better cardiovascular function.
The Surprising Benefits of Gratitude Everyone Should Know About
What’s the most surprising thing people should know about gratitude? Feeling grateful has effects on so many other character strengths you probably care about. I answered questions about this topic for Character Lab as a Tip of the Week: Everyone wants their kids to be more grateful. But why is gratitude so important? Gratitude is a super virtue. It’s an idea that dates back to Cicero, who said that gratitude is not only a great virtue but the parent of all other virtues.
Does Religion Make People More Ethical?
By April 20, 2022 11:24 am ET Do children need religion to grow into good people? Sixty-five percent of Americans think so. And even though younger adults have been leaving traditional faiths in droves, about 48% of them still hold this view. The result is a lot of conflicted parents. While they don’t necessarily miss going to church, synagogue or mosque, they do worry that without some sort of religious education, their kids might not grow into morally upstanding people.
What religion can teach us about living a longer, healthier, happier life on Apple Podcasts
52 min How do we live longer, healthier, happier lives? In this latest episode, David DeSteno, psychology professor at Northeastern University, shares how inextricably linked religion and psychology is, the rewards that a religious life can bring, and why you don’t have to be religious to benefit from the rituals. 52 min
How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion
David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of Emotional Success and The Truth About Trust, and coauthor of Out of Character. He frequently writes for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Harvard Business Review, and The Atlantic. Below, David shares 5 key insights from his new book, How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion. Listen to the audio version—read by David himself—in the Next Big Idea App. 1.
A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work
Juliet Funt is the founder and CEO of the efficiency firm JFG, which helps free the potential of companies by unburdening their talent from busywork. She has advised Spotify, National Geographic, Vans, and many Fortune 500 companies. Juliet has spent about twenty years watching the tolerated misery that so often exists in modern work, in which good people with earnest intentions burn themselves out, or lose touch with the satisfaction of professional effort.
Psychologists Are Learning What Religion Has Known for Years
Even though I was raised Catholic, for most of my adult life, I didn’t pay religion much heed. Like many scientists, I assumed it was built on opinion, conjecture, or even hope, and therefore irrelevant to my work. That work is running a psychology lab focused on finding ways to improve the human condition, using the tools of science to develop techniques that can help people meet the challenges life throws at them.
The Transcendence of Tantric Sex
Humans have always strived to develop technologies that give us some control, or at least the feelings of control, over the challenges that life throws at us. Psychologists like me devote our professional lives to figuring out why people think and feel what they do, and, in cases where those thoughts or actions are undesirable, to helping people change. We conduct experiments to see whether a certain type of drug or therapy alleviates anxiety or pain.
How God Works
“What do you get when you cross spiritual wisdom with modern science? A whole bunch of smart ideas about how to live a happier, healthier, and more meaningful life. A delightful and illuminating read.” —Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of Stumbling on Happiness “A masterful and continually surprising tour of how spiritual practices around the world anticipated the latest evidence-based insights from the science of behavior change.
Gratitude: A Tool for Reducing Economic Impatience - David DeSteno, Ye Li, Leah Dickens, Jennifer S. Lerner, 2014
Ainslie, G. (1975). Specious reward: A behavioral theory of impulsiveness. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 463–496. Google Scholar | Medline | ISI Andreoni, J., Sprenger, C. (2012). Risk preferences are not time preferences. The American Economic Review, 102, 3357–3376. Google Scholar | ISI Bartlett, M. Y., Condon, P., Cruz, J., Baumann, J., DeSteno, D. (2012). Gratitude: Prompting behaviors that build relationships. Cognition & Emotion, 26, 2–13. Google Scholar | Medline | ISI Bartlett, M. Y., DeSteno, D. (2006).
jakory.com
Contents Below, you can find a list of my scholarly publications with links to the PDFs, as well as links to other articles I've written, such as blog posts about my research, book reviews, and personal essays.
How to mix compassion and cooperation into social distancing
Resilient societies are able to bounce back from disruptions. The capacity to rebuild physical infrastructure is, of course, important after calamity strikes. But resilience also requires shoring up social infrastructure, the ties that bind us together. During events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the efforts of community members were pivotal to saving lives.
Guest Column: How to mix compassion and cooperation into social distancing
Guest Column: How to mix compassion and cooperation into social distancing Resilient societies are able to bounce back from disruptions. The capacity to rebuild physical infrastructure is, of course, important after calamity strikes. But resilience also requires shoring up social infrastructure, the ties that bind us together. During events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the efforts of community members were pivotal to saving lives.
Running the social course of the COVID-19 coronavirus
Resilient societies are able to bounce back from disruptions. The capacity to rebuild physical infrastructure is, of course, important after calamity strikes. But resilience also requires shoring up social infrastructure, the ties that bind us together. During events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the efforts of community members were pivotal to saving lives.
Commentary: How to mix compassion and cooperation into social distancing
Resilient societies are able to bounce back from disruptions. The capacity to rebuild physical infrastructure is, of course, important after calamity strikes. But resilience also requires shoring up social infrastructure, the ties that bind us together. During events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the efforts of community members were pivotal to saving lives.
Lo que pensamos del coronavirus está distorsionado por el miedo
La solución no consiste en tratar de pensar con más cuidado, sino en confiar en los expertos. El barrio chino de Manhattan en enero.
Cómo el miedo distorsiona nuestro pensamiento, por David DeSteno
Actualizado el 14/02/2020 a las 05:30 Cuando se trata de tomar decisiones que involucran riesgos, los humanos podemos ser irracionales de manera bastante sistemática, un hecho que los psicólogos Amos Tversky y Daniel Kahneman demostraron con la ayuda de una situación hipotética, extrañamente parecida a la epidemia de coronavirus de hoy.
Opinion | How Fear Distorts Our Thinking About the Coronavirus
The solution isn’t to try to think more carefully. It’s to trust the experts. By David DeSteno Dr. DeSteno is a social psychologist. Feb. 11, 2020 Manhattan’s Chinatown in January. There’s been a rush on face masks in the United States, even though the C.D.C. isn’t recommending them.
Opinion | How Fear Distorts Our Thinking About the Coronavirus
The solution isn’t to try to think more carefully. It’s to trust the experts. By David DeSteno Dr. DeSteno is a social psychologist. Feb. 11, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET Manhattan’s Chinatown in January. There’s been a rush on face masks in the United States even though the C.D.C. isn’t recommending them.
Gratitude Helps You Cooperate. Does It Also Make You a Sucker?
Be grateful. That’s been my science-backed mantra for a good many years. I say science-backed because unlike the rationale your parents relied on when urging you to be appreciative (though they were right!), my advice comes from more than a decade of accumulating empirical evidence showing that gratitude makes life better.
Research Shows Gratitude Has a Drastically Positive Impact
The Christmas season is a time of giving. But in the delight of giving and receiving presents that so characterizes the holidays, a different emotion, gratitude, often falls by the wayside. Don’t get me wrong. We all know that saying “thank you”is polite. It’s the rare person who won’t offer a quick smile, hug, or other gesture of appreciation when handed a present. But saying or doing something perfunctorily is entirely different than feeling it deeply.
Opinion | Go Ahead. Eat Your Holiday Feelings.
Illustration by Julian Glander The Thanksgiving table can be an emotional battlefield. Whether because of resurfaced sibling rivalry, blended-family tensions or mealtime political debate, the togetherness that we hope will inspire gratitude is notorious for causing stress instead. One subtle insult or off-color comment from a relative, and it begins: You feel your blood pressure rising, your palms sweating, your face getting hot.
Opinion | Don’t Mess With the Dressing. Don’t Tinker With the Turkey.
Illustration by Matt Chase; Photographs from Getty Images. There were four kids in my family growing up, and like most families, each of us has always had a role. As the oldest, I am the role model, the good example, the provider. And I’ve always loved to cook. This has worked out well over the years because my brother Joe, the baby of the family, has always loved to eat. When he was a teenager, it was all about quantity, not quality.
How Gratitude Puts You on a Fast-Track to a Well-Lived Life
For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish – coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
Gratitude is the fast track to a life well lived
Doctor Rajendra Trishal is blessed by a patient whose cataracts the doctor removed the previous day. For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn't a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish – coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn't much changed.
The fast track to a life well lived is feeling grateful
For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish—coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
Yes, gratitude really does help you live a better life (and be a better person)
By David DeSteno—Aeon 6 minute Read For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish—coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
The Fast Track To A Life Well Lived Is Feeling Grateful
For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish – coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
The fast track to a life well lived is gratefulness
By David DeSteno For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish – coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
The fast track to a life well lived is feeling grateful
For the Ancient Greeks, virtue wasn’t a goal in and of itself, but rather a route to a life well lived. By being honest and generous, embodying diligence and fortitude, showing restraint and kindness, a person would flourish – coming to live a life filled with meaning and finding an enduring, as opposed to ephemeral, happiness. Today, that view hasn’t much changed.
Columnist: How to overcome 'compassion fatigue'
David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of “Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride.” Washington Post Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston in August 2017, forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes and stranding others on roofs and porches. Millions watched the disaster unfold on their television screens, but one group sprang into action.
The Grateful Don’t Cheat: Gratitude as a Fount of Virtue
For the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, gratitude held a unique position among the noble qualities that a person could possess: It “is not only the greatest of the virtues, but also the parent of the others” (Cicero, 54 B.C.E./2018, p. 41).
Self-Control and Perseverance Aren’t About Feeling Miserable
We’re a society obsessed with success. And whether it’s at the office, in managing finances, in bettering health, or even in pursuing an unlikely dream, decades of research have confirmed that a central ingredient for obtaining that success is self-control. By that, I mean the ability to resist or sacrifice immediate pleasures in efforts to obtain greater rewards or achieve long-term goals.
The Calculus of Compassion
Although human suffering has always been with us, the past few months have provided several vivid examples in quick succession. From the tragic consequences of the Japanese earthquake, to the devastated neighborhoods from tornados in the American South, to the humanitarian crisis unfolding daily in Libya, the plight of thousands has been on almost daily display.
The Truth About Trust
“[DeSteno] does an excellent job presenting evidence and deriving practical conclusions for how trust works in everyday life.” –Scientific American Mind “Smart, fun, and informative, The Truth About Trust describes the most frightening, most wonderful, and most human thing we do: putting our fates in someone else’s hands. This one’s worth reading.
Meditation Inhibits Aggressive Responses to Provocations
Mindfulness August 2018, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp 1117–1122 | Cite as ORIGINAL PAPER First Online: 02 November 2017 Abstract Meditation has been advocated as a mental practice designed to reduce suffering and increase virtuous behavior. Although it has been previously linked to altruistic acts, its ability to reduce aggression and related retributive behaviors remains open to question.
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