Hidden Brain

How to Make a Difference: Part 2

Most of us think about making a difference in the world as if it's purely a matter of willpower or values — that if we care enough, we'll do enough. But psychologists who study this question have found something surprising: whether we help others depends less on our character than on the situation we're in.

Hidden Brain

How to Make a Difference: Part 1

Most people think that to make a difference, you need to find the biggest problem and throw yourself at it. But research suggests this kind of thinking can actually lead to worse outcomes — because the more overwhelming a problem seems, the more likely people are to do nothing at all.

TED Radio Hour

Less guilt, more joy: A new chapter for climate action

Negative emotions get exhausting over time. So there was a really incredible global mega study looking at 60,000 participants from 63 different countries and testing 11 interventions that were all designed to promote action on climate change. Now, one of these messages was kind of a traditional doom and gloom message about how terrible climate change is and how bad everything's going to be. And at first glance, it looks like that message worked really well. It was one of the messages that people were most likely to share on social media. However, this doom and gloom message actually undermined people's willingness to take a more effortful form of action.