The Science of Happiness
- Free to audit
- Paid certificate
- Beginner
- 11 weeks
The Science of Happiness is an eleven-week BerkeleyX course taught by Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Simon-Thomas of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. It introduces positive psychology: what researchers mean by happiness, why it matters, and which practices raise well-being. The course moves from the meaning and importance of happiness to the evidence on social connection, kindness and community, and then to the mental habits most conducive to happiness, including mindfulness, with practices you can try on yourself and use to foster happiness in others. edX lists it as introductory with no prerequisites, self-paced at four to five hours a week.
Auditing is free: you enrol at no cost and work through the material, but audit access on edX is temporary, lasting the course's estimated length in weeks from the day you enrol, and excludes graded assignments and the certificate. The optional verified certificate costs $169. Instruction is in English with English transcripts.
What you’ll learn
- Explain what happiness means in psychological research and why it matters for everyday life
- Apply evidence-based practices that raise your own well-being and support the happiness of others
- Describe the role of social connection, kindness and community in a satisfying life
- Recognise the mental habits linked to happiness and use mindfulness to strengthen them
Who it’s for
Anyone curious about the research behind well-being who is willing to try the practices week by week; no background in psychology is needed.
Instructors
- Dacher Keltner Director, Greater Good Science Center
- Emiliana Simon-Thomas Science Director, Greater Good Science Center
Course details
- Skills covered
- Program Management
- Psychology
- Positive Psychology
- Marketing
- Evolutionary Biology
- Learning Platforms
- Empathy
- Prerequisites
- None.
- Subtitles
- 1 language
On edx.org
Rated 4.7 out of 5 by 70 learners; 548,703 enrolled, as shown on the course page on 20 Oct 2026. These are edx.org’s own figures, not ours.
Source: BerkeleyX (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
More free UC Berkeley courses
Every UC Berkeley course we have verified, with cost and certificate terms compared.
PsychologyAll free Psychology courses
Free and free-to-audit Psychology courses from every provider, ranked.