Benefits of Gratitude
Academics have long theorized that expressions of thanks promote health and happiness and give optimism and energy to the downtrodden. Now, the study of gratitude has become a surprisingly burgeoning field, and research indicates being thankful might help people actually feel better. There’s a catch, however: You have to say thanks more than just once a year. (Matt Sedensky, Associated Press)

Why It’s So Hard for Teenagers to Be Grateful
They are soon to be independent adults, and they need to take themselves for test drives. Pushing parents away, and wanting things to be none of your business, and exhibiting total ignorance of all you’ve done for them, are all behaviors that conjure independence. Asking them to be grateful—and wishing they’d be more aware of how their success is due to you—is difficult for them to feel at the same time as they’re trying to get out from under your thumb. Thus grateful teenagers are rare, not the norm. (Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, NurtureShock, Newsweek)

Be Thankful for the Oxytocin in Your Brain
A raft of new research in humans suggests that oxytocin underlies the twin emotional pillars of civilized life, our capacity to feel empathy and trust. (Natalie Angier, The New York Times)

Monogamy Isn’t Easy or Natural for Humans—But Choice Is What Counts
David Barash: A case can be made, in fact, that people are being maximally human when they do things that contradict their biology. “Doing what comes naturally” is easy. It’s what nonhuman animals do. Perhaps only human beings can will themselves to do things that go against their “nature.” (Los Angeles Times)

A Rabbi, a Minister, and a Muslim Join Forces as the “Interfaith Amigos”
The three say they became close not by avoiding or glossing over their conflicts, but by running straight at them. They put everything on the table: the verses they found offensive in one another’s holy books, anti-Semitism, violence in the name of religion, claims by each faith to have the exclusive hold on truth, and, of course, Israel. (Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times)