The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

Work doesn’t end when the workday does. Even after we close our laptops, our minds keep replaying awkward meetings, looming deadlines, and unfinished to-do lists. Over time, that “always on” mentality can quietly hijack our relationships, our health, and our happiness.
Dr. Laurie sits down with psychologist and bestselling author Guy Winch (Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life) to explore the science of work stress — and why so many of us get stuck in fight-or-flight mode long after we’ve left the office.
Plus, Ben Walter, host of “The Unshakeables” and CEO of Chase for Business, shares what he’s learned from working with small business owners who don’t have the option to simply “clock out.”
If you’ve ever felt like work is bleeding into everything, this episode offers science-based tools to help you take your life back.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life
"Burnout: A Review of Theory and Measurement"
"The Relationship Between Workplace Stressors and Mortality and Health Costs in the United States"
"How Small Businesses Drive the American Economy"
"Small Business Facts"
“The Unshakeables”
"Yerkes-Dodson Law Of Arousal And Performance"
“The Use of Imagery to Manipulate Challenge and Threat Appraisal States in Athletes”
“Rebuilding After a Blaze: Luna Gourmet Coffee & Tea”
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In Part 2 of Dr. Laurie’s conversation with researchers Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, we learn how couples can raise complaints without damaging their relationship — and how to respond constructively when a partner voices a concern. Their research shows that fighting doesn’t have to pull couples apart. When handled well, conflict can actually make relationships stronger.
Further reading: Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection by Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman.
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In this classic episode, Dr. Laurie speaks with two of the world’s most influential relationship scientists, Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman.
In their renowned “Love Lab,” the married researchers have studied thousands of couples, identifying the subtle interaction patterns that predict whether partners will drift apart or stay happily together for decades.
They join Dr. Laurie to share what we can learn from these “Masters of Relationships” — and how to build partnerships resilient enough to withstand life’s inevitable stresses and strains.
Further reading: Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection by Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman.
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Modern dating can feel like a marketplace. We’re told we all have a “mate value,” that some people are 9s and 10s, and that the laws of evolution determine who gets chosen — and who gets rejected. But what if we’ve misunderstood what evolutionary science actually says about love?
Dr. Laurie sits down with social psychologist Dr. Paul Eastwick, author of Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection, to challenge some of the most pervasive myths about attraction and compatibility. Do dating app algorithms actually know who's right for you? Are we really all placed in different "leagues"? If you’ve ever wondered whether love is destiny, biology, or something you can actually create, Dr. Eastwick offers a surprising new perspective.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection
“The Pairing Game: A Classroom Demonstration of the Matching Phenomenon”
“Matching for Attractiveness in Romantic Partners and Same-Sex Friends: A Meta-Analysis and Theoretical Critique”
“The Social Relations Model”
“Once More: Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? Relative contributions of private and shared taste to judgments of facial attractiveness”
“Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Revisited: Do People Know What They Initially Desire in a Romantic Partner?”
“Northwestern Speed-dating Study I”
“Northwestern Speed-dating Study II”
“The (Mental) Ties That Bind: Cognitive Structures That Predict Relationship Resilience”
“We’re Not That Choosy: Emerging Evidence of a Progression Bias in Romantic Relationships”
“Romantic Relationship Status Biases Memory of Faces of Attractive Opposite-Sex Others: Evidence from a Reverse-Correlation Paradigm”
“Relationship Regulation in the Face of Eye Candy: a Motivated Cognition Framework for Understanding Responses to Attractive Alternatives”
“Perceived, not actual, similarity predicts initial attraction in a live romantic context: Evidence from the speed-dating paradigm”
“Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction”
“Love Factually”
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Modern dating can feel exhausting. On one hand, there’s the seemingly endless swiping that leads to dating app burnout; on the other, there’s what can feel like the insurmountable challenge of meeting someone in real life.
But what if finding love is less about fate — and more about strategy? Dr. Laurie sits down with behavioral scientist and dating coach Tim Molnar, author of Date Smarter: A Strategic Guide to Navigating Modern Romance, to explore what the research really says about how to meet the right person, build genuine connection, and avoid common dating mistakes.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Date Smarter: A Strategic Guide to Navigating Modern Romance
“Receptivity to Sexual Invitations from Strangers of the Opposite Gender”
How to Bounce Back from Life’s Curveballs (with Dr. Maya Shankar)
“Computations of Uncertainty Mediate Acute Stress Responses in Humans”
“Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes”
“Forbes Health Survey: 78% Of All Users Report Dating App Burnout”
“Foot-in-the-Door Technique Using a Courtship Request”
“Getting Beyond Small Talk: Study Finds People Enjoy Deep Conversations with Strangers”
“Grammar Is Super Important to Online Dating Sites, So Try to Speak English Good”
“ Swipe-based dating applications use and its association with mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study”
(00:02:17) Date Smarter: A Strategic Guide to Navigating Modern Romance
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